<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>didn't I see you fighting in the war by maevestrom</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28950276">didn't I see you fighting in the war</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maevestrom/pseuds/maevestrom'>maevestrom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>...the lookout? ig, Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Card Games, Dirty Talk, Eventual Fucking, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, I will describe the fucking when we get to the fucking, Implications of ASD, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Modern but Tweaked, Mutual Masturbation, Nudity, Photoshop, Picnics, Pseudo-History, Romance, Romantic Futures, School Reunion, So yeah eventual E but everything before is nice, Some drinking but they stop after two seconds, Sushi Bar, Swimming, Timelines, Vaginal Fingering, YES WE CAN, be on, oh yeah, repressed sexuality, you can't catch me gay thoughts!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:09:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28950276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maevestrom/pseuds/maevestrom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fka: The Secret History</p><p>A five-year reunion is held at Garreg Mach in the 21st century, where upbeat twentysomething Annette deals with her best friend getting engaged without telling her by spending the night running off with a long-forgotten friend, a lonely, formal historian who makes the evening more fascinating by the minute.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annette Fantine Dominic/Edelgard von Hresvelg, minor Byleth/Shamir, minor Dedue/Ashe - Relationship, minor Mercedes/Ingrid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. stop making a fool out of me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/17402999">You and Me, Editing Time</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cowboy_Sneep_Dip/pseuds/Cowboy_Sneep_Dip">Cowboy_Sneep_Dip</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this is a story about modern-day Fodlan and Garreg Mach. It takes place in the same universe as the original Three Houses. Things are gonna seem off in many parts but I promise that I did it deliberately and artistically. Usually, they're just mind-numbing screwups I focus on forever.</p><p>Edit: Making this a novel but since it will go differently from this, I'm leaving this up and retitling it</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Annette can't believe the damn trouble she went through just to get to this freaking reunion. Even after a solid half hour dozing off in a taxi and woken by an intrusive <em> honk </em> because, what, cab drivers don't have <em> mouths, </em> she's still exhausted. Didn't help that they held it in the Blue Sea Star moon aka <em> the middle of frickin' summer </em>.</p><p>Still, after she huffs her way out of the taxi, she can't help but look at Garreg Mach in awe. The private school looks just as intimidating and phenomenal as five years ago. It's gray and draconian, made of the same stone and brick in the seven hundreds or some long-time-ago year number. It's three stories high and she swears that one is just the stairs. </p><p>She does <em> not </em>look like she was once a student here with her general dorkiness. The black shirt with white ruffles probably fools people otherwise but the holey jeans set it straight.</p><p>She looks down to the right and the left. Still no elevator. "Damn it." She snaps her fingers. She's tugging along a pretty embarrassingly large fire-truck red suitcase with wheels and it's gonna <em> eat </em>pulling it up the stairs. Oh, well. </p><p>After a large yawn and stretch, she starts the momentous trek up the stairs. She wants to die when she gets up to the top but hey, she made it, likely due to the force of all the sleepless nights spent studying, the ghosts of which are hidden on the campus in various places cheering her up individually. </p><p>She still has to heave in about a dozen cartoonish gulps before she moves again. It probably looks weird to everyone, but she can't not exaggerate anything. Trust her, she's tried. </p><p>
  <em> It's just one of your cutest traits, Annie!  </em>
</p><p>Shoot, she <em> did </em> say that, didn't she? As Annie wanders into the Entrance Hall before her, opening and shutting the doors because she felt a need to open <em> both </em> at once, her mind fills up with the memory of Mercie's compliments. She can't even focus on one because there are so many, and of course her brain remembers a lot of them. Word for word too. Annette's biggest problem has always been her mind having too many thoughts that can't finish what they were saying. She's pretty sure she hears the name <em> Annie </em>a lot, and each time feels so nice to remember that she feels drunk. </p><p>Damn it to frick, she probably blanked for five minutes there by the door of the hall Annette the Space Cadette, everyone. She blinks any distractedness away and mentally tells it sternly to <em> stay put.  </em></p><p>Thankfully, in the middle of the hall is the Gatekeeper, moved in here for the night. (She's never been sure what infestation of crime they need a gatekeeper for, but whatever.) He's her favorite but she's not <em> special </em> for that. Unlike the other guards, people can see his whole face, making him appear a <em> lot </em> nicer. Even better; he <em> is. </em>At least, he hasn't ever yelled at her like the other guards.</p><p>He regards her with a smile nearly as chipper and energetic as the one she usually has. "Greetings, Miss Dominic!" </p><p>Annette smiles as wide as she can. "You remembered me!" She squeals and hugs him, dropping her suitcase handle and nearly knocking the hat off of his head.</p><p>Good thing Gatey's a good sport and laughs. "Of course! I mean…" In a conspiratorial tone, he whispers "don't tell anyone, but there's no way I could forget you." </p><p>Annette giggles and hugs him tighter. True, those could be for good or bad reasons but… it's Gatey. He gets a pass. "I'm so glad you're here! Have, like…" She gestures to the <em> everything </em> around her. "Have you been gatekeeping forever?" </p><p>He laughs. "Have I been gatekeeping<em> forever?" </em></p><p>She playfully slaps his chest. "Oh, you <em> know </em>what I mean! Like, since I was gone!" </p><p>"Yep!" His smile is extra-proud. "Ever since you graduated! I'll probably be here for as long as I can, honestly." He scratches the back of his neck like he's <em> embarrassed </em>by that like he wasn't a man born to keep gates. "Like, it's a humble dream, but I'm living it! And I never thought I'd get to say that about my dream!" </p><p>Annette chuckles. It's a little dark because she's on her, what, eighth dream so far? (Or her fourth, fifth study change at Fhirdiad's School of Liberal Arts, either/or.) "Dude, I'm happy for you!" she beams. Cause at the end of the day, Gatey being happy is like watching your friend win the lottery. Sure, maybe <em> you </em> didn't get anything but you're really glad <em> they're </em>happy. </p><p>Then Annette remembers. "Oh! Gatey! Can you, like, direct me to the reunion?" </p><p>Gatey smiles even wider. "It's been ages since someone's called me that, Miss Dominic," he says with a lilt in his voice.</p><p>"Aw, more people should," she responds. "But yeah! Not getting distracted! Go ahead." </p><p>Gatey gestures around him. "Well, if you wanna know, the focus is in the Reception Hall just on the other side. That's where the focus is. Some of the campus is off-limits; a reunion doesn't mean people don't still sleep here. But there's a squarish boundary between the reception hall, classrooms, the dining hall, and the gazebos that's open for the reunion." </p><p>Annette nods sternly. "Heard and understood!" </p><p>Gatey grins. "I'll also take your suitcase for you, ma'am." Annette smiles like a fool. <em> He called her ma'am! </em>He takes it by the handle and gives her a laminated card. "Show me this and I'll get your suitcase." He rolls his eyes. "They make you do this like you're not to be trusted." </p><p>"Aw, it's okay!" Annette bows formally. "Thank you so much, Gatey!" </p><p>Gatey laughs just a little, blushing under his hat. "Of course, Miss Dominic! You enjoy yourself!" </p><p>Before she can remember to tell him <em> call me Annette </em>she starts to walk away. "You take care too!" she shouts back at him as she runs up the stairs, not jet-lagged for a few minutes. </p><p>She knows that the reception hall is on the other side of the walkway just outside by the Gazebos, so she follows it. </p><p>She muses that, wow, between the entrance hall being so vast and empty with impeccable diamond tiling, the outside hedges looking like they haven't grown in a century, and the outside of the reception hall looking like a draconian monster, it looks like Garreg Mach hasn't changed in the millennium-plus since it was built. Like, they added electricity and modern facilities and that's it. </p><p>The doors to the reception hall are being held open by exceptionally mismatched doorstops that somehow hold the whole thing up. Inside, she's thrilled to see the party has already started. Yes, she arrived at the perfect time! Take <em> that, </em>Faerghus Premiere  Airlines! </p><p>A lot of people are here despite the Class of her year not being very big. Of the hundred-something people in her year, there are around… well, Annette's not gonna count, but fifty? Probably fifty. She doesn't know a lot of them, but many of the instructors are here just by sight. (Of course she recognizes them first. Such a teacher's pet!) </p><p>There's Professors Hanneman (historian and a great teacher), Morgana (she drinks a lot but she's cool), Cassandra (has she come out yet? Everyone knew and it was a big oof all the times she talked about men like she was reading a call script), and headmaster Flynn (very nice and youthful-looking, even if she talks like an outdated Enbarr romance novel) standing by the side of what looks like cake (!!!!!) with absolute poise. Morgana <em> doesn't </em> have poise, but she <em> does </em>have alcohol, so if she's happy Annette's happy. </p><p>They're all nice, but none of them are <em> her </em> professor. She still hasn't seen any Blue Lions! There's no way she can be the only one! (Please, please, <em> please </em>Seiros don't make her the only one.) </p><p>Another cursory glance reveals that, yep, she cannot find a single Blue Lion. Bleh. Pouting, she snatches a cake and sits at the end of one of the table benches. It'll probably be no big deal, they'll show after a little bit, but Annette is literally the opposite of patient. </p><p>She finds herself settling into her seat and waiting for a while. By twenty minutes no one has shown- not even professor Bells, who will definitely be here after whatever's going on in her- </p><p>Classroom! </p><p>God, she's a silly goose. They're probably all there. Some people like Mercie, even! Annette can't keep her waiting because she <em> would </em>be waiting. She can't stand the idea of going through the evening without at least saying hello to her favorite person in the world. </p><p>She stands straight up and starts to run outside.</p><p>Then, just like old times, she trips over a barrel, literally the first one out of the Reception Hall. Her words in response aren't as clean as they were back then.</p><p>Still, she gets up and runs some more until she gets to the Blue Lions class. All of the classes have been built bigger the last decade. Her class was at the mercy of drills, hammers, and power saws often. (Conversely, they were at the mercy of Ingrid.) It's very nice to see it complete now, and to see someone sitting on the steps.</p><p>"Oh, hello Annette." </p><p>She'd recognize that voice anywhere. It took her a whole year for her to talk in normal-length sentences not from lecture notes, so of course she remembers such a point of conversation. "Hihi, Bells! Good to see you! You haven't aged a day, have you?" </p><p>Bells shakes her head. "I've aged about five years' worth of days, but thank you for the compliment." With a heavy sigh: "Lord knows I could use it. I've been teaching here for ages and I am very tired." </p><p>Bells… yep, still looks about thirty-two at most, so she must mean it exaggeratedly. "I'd bet it would be rough," she admits. "Lot of twerps." </p><p>Bells nods. "Looooooot of twerps. Speaking of, how have you been, Annette?" </p><p>Annette narrows her eyes in a <em> don't-think-I-missed-that </em>kind of way. "I've been doing pretty okayish? Been taking classes at the Fhirdiad School of Arts and History over the years and looking for a summer job right now." Well, more like she's flailing for one, but potato, potahto. At least her grades are good.</p><p>"Very good," Bells says, patting her head. It's a little robotic, but Annette giggles anyways. It's part of her charm. "What are you studying?" </p><p>Annette lights up. "Uh, I'm doing a lot of history classes mixed with, like, practical things if I can. Been taking on the late twelfth century, you know, the big five year war?" </p><p>Bells smiles, a little wan. "It's a lovely period. I had, ah, ancestors who fought for Adrestia, so I got to hear about it firsthand." She sighs. "It's almost like being there, in some ways." </p><p>Annette tries to smile, but she's a little nervous. Bells has a habit of talking about the past like it was yesterday for <em> her </em>in particular. Annette knows better than anyone that magic was all the rage in the twelfth century though eventually use stopped due to a religious push from the Nabatean clan. It, uh, wasn't pretty. But could magic still exist? Could it be why-</p><p>"Belinda Eirika Hevring," someone calls up to her, scolding. </p><p>"Full name's never good," Annette tells her. Bells nods sadly. </p><p>Annette looks at the source. It's Shamir, Bells' girlfriend and the athletics professor. "Are you still trying to scare your students?" </p><p>Bells shakes her head. Then, reluctantly nods it. Annette screams laughter. </p><p>"Incorrigible as ever, Bells." </p><p>"I'd like to think it's one of my positive traits," Belle says, feigning innocence with clasped hands and a teacherly smile. Her teacher impression is a) <em> so accurate </em>and b) not her. </p><p>"Huh. I disagree." Still, Shamir shrugs and tosses her most recent sweat towel at her. It hits <em> Annette. </em>Both Shamir and Bells cringe. They were made for each other. </p><p>"<em> Hello to you too, Shamir!" </em>Annette kicks the towel away.</p><p>"Take care, the both of you." Just like that, she walks away. </p><p>Annette limply throws the towel after her. "Rude," she huffs. "You haven't sanded her down already?" </p><p>"I'm pretty sure that isn't how it works, Annie." </p><p>Annette doesn't miss it for a second. Scientists can pinpoint the exact moment she went from <em> Mercie isn't out here </em>to "Mercie!" glomping her like she's been on a five-year tour. </p><p>"It's so lovely to see you, Annie!" Mercie hugs her back, digging right into her armpit. Mercie gives the biggest hugs. She leans back. Her voice at a glass-shattering pitch as it always is: "And look at <em> you! </em>You've grown more than ever!" </p><p>Annie snorts, looking <em> way </em>up at Mercie. "Yeah, to five-four. You stole all the genes!" </p><p>Mercie giggles, hand to her mouth. "Still, an improvement is an improvement!" </p><p>Annette giggles in kind. "Yeah, guess so. I can't argue with <em> you </em>." The two eventually let go of each other. Mercie looks like… well, if you could come up with a drawing of Mercie, it would look exactly the same. Very tall (six feet or something?) but as soft as her heart, which makes her so good to hug. She cut her hair into a bob, which only she could pull off. She's always got some sort of dress on, just like the olden days. It fits both how, like, homey and sweet as pie she is, but also is a little ironic to her incredibly progressive feminine stances. She's basically perfect, is the thing. </p><p>She softly claps Mercie's shoulder. "So, how you <em> been, </em>girl?" </p><p>Mercie's eyes crinkle. "I've been doing <em> very </em> well, thank Seiros. Working with the Welcome Mat project has been rewarding. I could stay there <em> forever. </em>" </p><p>Annie coos. She's so happy that Mercie is happy. "That's so cool! I gotta admit though, I never thought I'd see you building houses!" </p><p>Mercie chuckles a little more authentically. She has her giggle because she's nice to everyone, then her <em> Annie laugh </em> she only uses around Annie. "I haven't been doing it alone," she admits. "Ingrid has been a huge help, the dear." </p><p>Annie's smile grows. "Even cooler!" She scratches her neck. "I've tried to keep in touch with the Lions, but like, a lot of them- it's like they vanished. And then there's, like, the core group. We try but…" She grimaces, guilty. "You know how it is. College, looking for work, other things that aren't things I'm doing. It legitimately takes up a lot of time, which I <em> never </em>expected from here." </p><p>"Oh, it's okay," Mercie assures her, hand casually wrapped around her neck. "We've all been busy." With a conspiratorial whisper: "Ingrid's been in college too, so I absolutely get that it's busy work. When she got home, I think she complained about it for a week." She giggles that oddly cute little mischievous giggle she uses to describe some minor annoyances that are cute to her.</p><p>"Yeah, she's entirely right!" Annie vents like a chihuahua barks. "It's just a giant runaro- home?" </p><p>Mercie looks a little confused. "Yes. Home." </p><p>Annie looks a lot confused. "You two are roommates?" </p><p>She laughs, but it's very wooden. Then realization dawns on her face and the smile becomes a lot more professional. It's like physically impossible for Mercie to frown, but this is about as close as she gets. </p><p>"Annie, you saw the announcement, didn't you?" </p><p>"Announcement?"</p><p>As if Sothis herself grabbed and turned her head like <em> look here, dipstick, </em>Annette finally notices the ring on her finger. </p><p>"Ohhhhhhh." </p><p>Mercie nods with a wide smile. "We're so scatterbrained, aren't we, Annie?"</p><p>Annie chuckles. "Well, at least one of us is." Good- if she can laugh about that, she can try to sincerely congratulate her best friend in the world without feeling like her chest is absolutely <em> searing </em>for some reason.</p><p>What… the hell?</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It's a half hour that Annie is kinda there for but kinda not. Mercie talks her ear off, which is a little bittersweet, but she does her best to carry a conversation with her even though she's in shock. Unfortunately, the conversation turns to their engagement, the wedding, and Ingrid. As in, Ingrid jumps in to aid a lot, monopolizing Mercie's attention. She takes Annie with her but tends to follow her fiance a lot. Since Ingrid is so connected to so many people, including Felix "'why am I here' <em>yeah why</em> <em>are you here</em>" Fraldarius, they end up in the conversation which overwhelms the hell out of Annie, being someone whose voice at the table is unprioritized yet who is bombarded with five other voices. Dedue and Ashe are both gone, and though Bells gives her a sympathetic look, she doesn't intervene. That's fair enough, if not more isolating than anything she's ever felt. She's alone in a crowd because, of course, they're six of the only eight from the class to make it. She wonders if the other classes are the same. </p><p>She feels isolated. Isolated and just not good. Just not happy. Goddess, she's so sucky. This is her best friend's <em> engagement. </em> This should be a happy day for Annette! She <em> loves </em>Mercie, and Ingrid is really cool too! They balance each other out perfectly- Ingrid is quiet, Mercie is talkative. Ingrid is very tomboyish and Mercie is so hyperfeminine. Ingrid is quick to react, Mercie is insanely methodical. Opposites couldn't attract any harder.</p><p>Something is just eating her stomach about it. </p><p>So she tells Mercie "hey, I'm gonna get some air for a little bit. This crowd's like, really overwhelming." </p><p>Mercie furrows her brow. "I understand," she can be heard saying. "Just-" The rest is drowned out by Ingrid and Sylvain arguing again, almost certainly because of something Sylvain said.</p><p>"Um, yeah!" She responds. That seems like a good all-purpose response. With that, she doesn't bother to see if Ingrid still knocks the tar out of Sylvain at the age of twenty-seven. Instead, she just… leaves. </p><p>Walking around the classroom area is dizzying because she doesn't know where to go. The sun blinds her and she doesn't like it, it's like it's deliberately teasing her. </p><p>Her favorite giant/manlet duo Dedue and Ashe pass by, arm in arm. Ashe is talking far more than Dedue but it's clear that Ashe is the one person that Dedue enjoys talking to. Ashe sees Annette and flags her down. Oh, yippee, she better get it in check right the frick now. </p><p>She puts on her best <em> nope-no-sadness-on-me </em> face because, hell, she's absolutely thrilled to see them both. They've been on the outskirts of the Lion core but Annette's been, like, their link? She guesses she was, but she's glad for that because they're good people. "Hi, y'all!" </p><p>Ashe hugs her tightly. He's one of the sweetest dudes she knows. Like, one of those people you'd talk to in your eighties ever the same. "Annette! How lovely to see you!" </p><p>"I agree." You'd think Dedue was emotionless when you talked to him unless you knew him. They probably won't talk in their eighties but only because he does not initiate conversation and even then Ashe may make him. </p><p>"I'm super pumped to see you both!" She releases Ashe to glomp Dedue the best that she can for a dude with an extra third on her. Dedue gently hugs her back. "What have you been doing with yourself?" </p><p>"Gardening. Baking. Generally enjoying ourselves," Dedue explains. </p><p>"Yes, we have a very lovely garden at our home!" Ashe picks up, very excited. "Of course, we had to move to Derdriu to foster an environment for growth, but it gives us the crop to sell!" </p><p>"We sell in many markets." </p><p>Annette grins. "And here I am just doing college stuff and getting by."</p><p>Ashe holds her hand. He's so <em> gentle. </em>"I'm certain that you're building a future for yourself through it!" </p><p>"When we first started our crops were eaten by bugs." Dedue is as blunt as ever. "We had to learn smarter tactics for future years." He cracks a tiny grin. "Also, we had to build a greenhouse."</p><p>Ashe winces. "Cost a pretty penny, it did. I'm grateful that Dedue insisted it to be an investment. We need those dissenting voices sometimes, you know?" </p><p>Annette nods. "I'm really happy for you! I was really hoping you'd make it!"</p><p>"When Dedue and I moved together, I swore that we would make it through anything." </p><p>Dedue smiles for the first time. "It's been difficult, but he has kept that promise." </p><p>"I'm gonna cry, y'all." Annette's fanning off her face like a little bit of artificial chill will stop her face heating up. Ashe hugs her again. It's so damn sweet. </p><p>"Anyway," Ashe continues. "We're going back to our classroom."</p><p>"I heard Ingrid was to marry." Dedue's tight smile reaches the top of his cheeks. Ingrid is a very close friend of his. If she thought Ingrid and Mercie were opposites, Ingrid and Dedue were even more so, despite him and Mercie also being vastly different people. It's a weird ass triangle. And maybe if she keeps thinking of it that way she won't remember that she's sad. </p><p>"Yeah! They're gabbing about it in class. It's crazy in there, though. I had to leave because…" she gestures to her head. "Brain hurty, you know? Gotta settle." Huh, actually a decent lie. Who <em> is </em>this girl?</p><p>Ashe nods. "We'll go there and see what the fuss is about." </p><p>"Will we see you there?" </p><p>"You <em> should, </em>" she jokes because that hurts less. "But if not, assume giant birds came back from extinction and took me away." </p><p>Dedue chuckles. "Let us hope that is not the case." </p><p>"I'll keep the faith, gentlemen." Hugging Ashe one more time: "Now, seriously. Enjoy it, you two!" </p><p>Ashe pats her on the back. "We will. Take care, Annette!" </p><p>"I hope we see you again soon."</p><p>Annette doesn't know if he means today or a different day and she <em> will not dwell on it, damn it. </em>"You will! Love y'all!" </p><p>"We love you too, Annette!" Dedue nods at Ashe's statement. She watches them leave and then sighs. Holding her sadness in <em> hurts.  </em></p><p>She needs a bench. Any bench, really. Preferably one far away from the Blue Lions class, but there's also one with a good view of the canyon between the school and the chapel museum. She thinks she'd enjoy that. </p><p>Upon closer inspection, there appears to be someone sitting there. They're about her height (okay, two inches taller <em> at most </em> ), hair brown as chestnuts, and even from here, damn, their posture is <em> impeccable.  </em></p><p>Then it clicks. </p><p>Annette hadn't even thought she'd see her here. She had no reason to since… </p><p>Well, there's less for her to remember. </p><p>Hopefully she remembers Annette. </p><p>She tries to be calm as she sits on the bench next to her, but here's the thing. She's <em> not </em> gonna be able to get away with deception. Edelgard's eyes can read into your soul if you're upset. Otherwise, you're in the clear, but she's kind of a fatalist. Always has been. Of all her friends, she's probably the coldest. (Felix is the coldest person she knows, but they are <em> certainly </em>not friends at this point.) </p><p>Annette's still glad to see her.</p><p>Edelgard looks straight ahead. She looks more <em> normal </em>than usual, wearing a stripe shirt, slacks, and her hair in a very tight bun. Her lilac eyes light up just a little, then dim again. "Is everything okay?" </p><p>Annette almost forgot that Edelgard is not a frequent user of pleasantries. Annette hasn't heard them. Edelgard once made the joke that she only uses them around people she likes, but Annette knows she's a friend. </p><p>She realizes it's been a bit and Edelgard is still waiting for an answer. "Oh! Yeah, everything's good. Hi, Edelgard!" She smiles bittersweetly, because she doesn't want to think of her classroom, but she's also happy that she won't go home not seeing Edelgard. Since she's far more secretive and solitary than Annette, she isn't very active online and since Fhirdiad and Enbarr are on opposite sides of the nation they haven't really packed up to visit each other.</p><p>Edelgard thinks for a second before she places her hands on her right knee, legs crossed. "Hello, Annette." After a second: "It has been a while, hasn't it?" </p><p>Annette nods energetically. "It's been way too long since we talked!" The thought hits her that they won't get to talk again after this but she shoves it aside so hard it probably crashed into something.</p><p>"Quite. My apologies for that." She furrows her brow in that classic Edelgard way. God, it's been five <em> years </em>since she saw that. "Hubert has been trying to help me become more technologically capable but it's difficult for him to do from a distance, since he has to spend a lot of time in old Vestra territory." </p><p>"I understand," Annette responds. "When you <em> do </em>get it worked out, add me on any platforms you're on" </p><p>"I will, though it may be an eventuality." She places her finger on her chin. "I will, however, accept your phone number should you be able to deliver it." </p><p>Oh, thank goodness she has a pen. "Absolutely!" Taking it out of her pocket: "Can I borrow your arm?" </p><p>"My… arm?" Regardless, she complies. </p><p>"Yeah, since, like, we don't have paper…" Annette softly writes her name and number on Edelgard's arm, who looks like she's going to burn alive from the touch. "There you go!" </p><p>Edelgard's eyes are as wide as dinner plates, but she pulls out her phone. "I thank you," she says, toneless. "In the future, however, I'd remind you not to touch me. Likely one of these classrooms would have had paper." </p><p>Annette forgot <em> that?! </em>Edelgard never liked being touched. "Oops," she responds sheepishly. "Sorry." </p><p>"Quite all right." </p><p>Annette smiles. What a relief. Still, she often makes the mistake of saying too much around Edelgard, so she lets that subject go. "Are you enjoying the reunion?" Annette asks. "I wasn't certain I'd see you here." Okay, that was too much. She'll never learn, will she? Frick. </p><p>"Moderately so," she responds. Her face betrays no emotion. "I've not been able to connect with too many of my old classmates, but I've occupied myself." </p><p>Annette nods. There's definitely a bit to eat and do around here. She's not a super teacher's pet, but all of them are decent conversation- even Shamir, the towel throwing wretch. "I'm glad for that! I hope you've been treating yourself well!"</p><p>"I have." She says no more. It's probably not Annette's business anyways but, still, work with her here. </p><p>"Cool. I've just been doing school things," Annette explains. "I'm… kind of all over the place-" Edelgard snorts. Annette wants to say <em> hey, </em>but whatever. Edelgard's a little blunt and she's had time to get used to it. "I'm currently studying history. I can do something with that one way or another." </p><p>"A pleasant idea," Edelgard responds. "My work is a bit more… personal, but I have been attending the right classes to supplement it." </p><p>Annette smiles. "That's good! Everyone should have a passion!" </p><p>Edelgard smiles at this. "I do," she nearly whispers. It's the first time she's sounded… personal. The words before were eloquent, yet wooden, like a well-written play. Annette's glad for that much, at least. </p><p>That's when she hears something break in the background and several familiar voices yell, making her <em> eep! </em> and cringe. <em> Sylvain or Felix? </em>she wonders. Judging by the fearful shout, it's Sylvain. Felix is super bad at sharing his feelings- trust her. </p><p>Edelgard still doesn't look at her. "Your class?" </p><p>"Yep!" </p><p>Edelgard hums. "I'd have thought for sure that it would be the Deer, but life is full of surprises." </p><p>Annette nods. "And I think at least half of those surprises are named Ingrid." <em> She sure surprised me today, </em>she muses bitterly.</p><p>"Ingrid does many things. Surprising me is not one of them." </p><p>Annette laughs sardonically. "Good one." </p><p>Edelgard blushes, looking off the cliff. Annette feels like she's been odd today. For the most part, she's acted like Annette isn't Annette, just Seat Warmer #4. Then Annette can embarrass her so easily without even trying or knowing how for future reference.</p><p>(Uhm, so she doesn't do that, of course. Yep.)</p><p>Annette looks just behind her. "Is Hubert here in the classroom?" </p><p>"None of the Eagles," she explains, still looking ahead. "Some are wandering about, I'm sure, but they're not here. Hubert couldn't make it from his home, so you are the only one I know." </p><p>Annette shakes her head. "The Eagles are still giving you grief, huh?" </p><p>"The problem is they aren't giving me much of anything," Edelgard corrects. "But alas. The only other thing interesting to happen to me in the last few years is that I got into a car accident." </p><p>Annette gasps. "You <em> what? </em>" </p><p>She nods, her right hand up. "As you can see, I am still here, but I do have quite a scar on my chest." A beat. "I'll hope that you take my word for it." </p><p>"Oh! Definitely!" Okay, so she <em> casually </em>got into a scarring car accident. Whatever. No need to fret at never seeing a friend again and not knowing why.</p><p>She might be in a sour mood.</p><p>Maybe.</p><p>The two sit together quietly. Edelgard looks into the canyon more. "I do wish it was possible to descend into the canyon," she muses. "The mist rising to our level… you could disappear down there for a little while." </p><p>That's probably the difference between them. The whole introvert/extrovert thing. This is like her type of fantasy- to be alone with the world. Being unseen in the open is like what she just experienced with the Lions.</p><p>She stops zoning out to feel herself grimace. <em> Um, I didn't give you permission for that, face. </em>"Sorry!" she says, not that Edelgard noticed. "I've just been having a weird time tonight. You know those nights?" </p><p>Edelgard nods slowly. "I… <em> believe </em>so. I try my best to quantify and rationalize my emotions, but sometimes it's just a mystery." </p><p>"Yeah. Me too." Just usually it's because of too many thoughts. "I'm glad you're here, though." </p><p>Edelgard seems surprised. "Oh? Why so?" </p><p>Annette's a little surprised by that. "Because you're cool, not crazy, and not complicated. Everyone else here is." She thinks. "Except Shamir, but I doubt she wants visitors." </p><p>Edelgard chuckles sensibly. "I thank you for that." </p><p>"Of course!" </p><p>There's a bit of a flush on Edelgard's body. She must not be used to compliments. Poor girl.</p><p>"I, ah…" Edelgard scratches the back of her neck. "I'd like to leave soon, if it's all the same to you." </p><p>Annette drains. At the rate everything is going, Edelgard's company is all that she can tolerate, and she absolutely doesn't want to go back to Blue Lions. Then there's the fact that Edelgard isn't good at communication. It's like a crossroads where the decision she makes matters. </p><p>She can't outright say <em> sweet, let's go! </em>Instead, she asks "where to?" </p><p>Edelgard blinks, flinching something worrisome. She wasn't expecting that. "I'm staying here in the city of Garreg Mach," she says slowly. "I, ah… don't have plans. I just… you're the only one who wanted to see me." She bows her head. "So I'm going to call it a night." </p><p>A siren goes off in Annette's head. Hell no to that. It shouldn't feel half as dire as it does but hell, it does. </p><p>"If you'd like, uhm…" </p><p>Edelgard looks over at her for the first time.</p><p>"Why don't we hang together?" </p><p>Edelgard gets up, eyes widening. "I'd like that," she says. Annette grins. "I was under the impression that you had things to do here. Perhaps an assumption really." </p><p>"Nope!" Annette follows her up. "I'm all yours!" </p><p>Edelgard blushes at that. She pretends she isn't, but she is. Annette recognizes that oops, she might have said a <em> dirty </em>. "Oh, you know what I mean, Edelgard!" </p><p>"Quite," she responds curtly. "Now, how should we exit? I'd prefer not to be flagged down by anyone, and I know that you'd prefer to avoid the Lions. We may have to take an off-limits path for a clean escape." </p><p>Annette sputters a little. She forgot how bluntly and simply Edelgard could do things against the rules. Sometimes, she even saw it as an obligation. <em> "I am the descendant of the final Hresvelg Emperor, who was willing to fight for the morals she believed in," </em>she can practically hear. </p><p>Still, she doesn't wanna look too goody gumdrop for Edelgard. "Uhm, thinking about it, like…" She plans the routes in her head. "If we go by the knight's hall, there'll be guards. Probably at the stables, too. By the barracks, though? I'd predict less. I just say we cut back when we can." She looks at Edelgard. "Besides, I gotta get my suitcase from Gatey." </p><p>"The, ah, gatekeeper, correct?" Edelgard immediately starts to walk towards the barracks. There are a few rowdy kids climbing the stairs of the sauna with nothing but their towels on. Edelgard coincidentally looks the other way. </p><p>"Yeah," Annette says. "I call him Gatey." </p><p>Edelgard chuckles briefly. There are no guards on the field ahead, thankfully. "For some odd reason, that doesn't surprise me." </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. if I could change the way that you see yourself</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And, as always, I'm sorely tempted to turn this into a longer story. Frick me.</p><p>I pray to God I explained poker well jfc</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Here's a few things to remember about Edelgard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She isn't generally an eye contact kind of woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She dislikes being touched unless she explicitly says that you can.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She might say rude things to you completely unknowingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Otherwise, she's a fine date.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's the seat furthest back from the front, so Annette slouches like Sylvain did every day in class and puts her feet on the panels raising over the tire. Next to Edelgard is her suitcase, still glaring blankly at the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard sits straight up with impeccable posture, not surprising Annette at all. She looks like Annette always remembered her, the prize student with years of charm school under her belt. Still, there's a smile on her face, which is so rare that Annette has half a mind to get her camera and sneak a picture. It's a small smile, but it's more mischievous than she bets Edelgard's ever done. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without looking at Annette, she asks "do we have an itinerary for the night?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sourly, Annette's first thought is </span>
  <em>
    <span>get the hell away from Mercie and Ing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She didn't really plan after that. "Uhm…" She's afraid to disappoint Edelgard. She just has that </span>
  <em>
    <span>aura. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"We don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>yet, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but my mind's piecing a plan together." Well, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>probably </span>
  </em>
  <span>is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods. "I'll admit that I was relying on you for a plan. I've not been out all that much, so I've a fuzzy understanding of the city." Looking at her: "You and Mercedes went into the city and Remire quite often, which is more knowledge than I have." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damn it, they totally did. She instantly remembers a lot of places they loved- best bookstore, best pie, best equipment for science class, and the best secondhand clothes. (She finds the funkiest clothes there, like a green button up with a pattern of foxes. She definitely drew eyes to her impeccable fashion that next day.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette crosses out those four places on her mental map. Problem is, she isn't exactly sure where to take Edelgard. She's so classy and elegant that Annette still isn't sure why she'd spend the night humoring her. She thinks. Thinks more. And somewhere along the line she decides </span>
  <em>
    <span>screw it </span>
  </em>
  <span>and goes with a place along this bus line. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You like sushi?" she asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smiles naturally enough to give Annette her answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Score.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Annette's not unfamiliar with this place. Exploring the Garreg Mach metropolis was a great way to pass the time when she either had no schoolwork or needed to force herself to take a break from it. Just her, the bus, some music, and forcing herself to be calm. All that is to say, she knows a thing or two about Garreg Mach. Like this restaurant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though it's certainly done a fine job at, well, being a sushi place, it is not an easy-to-understand place if you haven't been to a conveyor belt sushi bar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard taps her fork against the linoleum counter that she and Annette share seats at. "So I can take any plate that suits me?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yep!" Annette kicks the suitcase under the counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I won't be stealing it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nope!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard is quiet for a moment, musing in confusion like she was told a kilogram weighed the same in steel or feathers. Then: "I apologize; when you say no, do you mean that I was wrong or-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You won't get in trouble," Annette chuckles, though she's a little tweaked herself. "We just gotta keep the plates so the waiter can price them up when we're done." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods. "Ah. Thank you, Annette." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course," Annette replies, trying not to sound like she's currently wondering how much Edelgard has gotten out. Like, it's not common knowledge how this sushi system works so she's not gonna hold it against her for not knowing, but she has a habit of asking like it's serious business. It's so odd, but hey, she's smiling, so she's comfortable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard waits to grab a few pieces caked in rice, a plain plate holding it. When she gets her hands on it she's all over it until she actually gets it. "Oh," she hums. Then, quieter and lacking that Hresvelg confidence: "Damn." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sup?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This isn't what I hoped for," she admits. "I suppose putting it back is out of the question?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I…" She thinks and gets question marks. She doesn't have a pamphlet on sushi bar etiquette so best to play it safe. "That's probably a good idea." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aha." Gesturing to the plate and turning towards her: "Annette, would you like this?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette looks at it. It's spicy tuna, something she's okay with. "You're lucky," she jokes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I apologize," Edelgard responds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette regards her with a funny look that she doesn't realize she has for a few seconds. Then she goes </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh, frick </span>
  </em>
  <span>and dials it back a few notches. "It's totally fine, Edelgard. Tastes are tastes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's true enough," is the response, and then it goes quiet. Annette realizes that she's watching Edelgard far more than the conveyor belt. She looks like she took an express trip out of this world, watching the conveyor belt with extreme dedication. Her neat bun adds a level of regality to such a serious, slight face. This small, regal, kind of cute girl playing the role of a monk in silent prayer is a fascinating twist to something so mundane.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When something she wants passes, she picks it up at lightning speed, only to sigh again. "Damn it," she breathes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lemme see." Annette grabs the plate. It's a Dynamite Roll and looks delish. "Want me to eat this one too?" She asks a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>too eagerly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you will," Edelgard replies wearily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette hums happily and takes the plate. "Thanks, Edelgard," she tells her, a smile in her voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To her surprise, Edelgard blushes just enough to give her game away. "Of cou- don't mention about it." At her little flub, she furrows her eyebrows. Annette just giggles and digs in. Seeing imperfection from her is really charming. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If not for my </span>
  <em>
    <span>paltry</span>
  </em>
  <span> height, I could see what each roll contains," she says with a beleaguered sigh. Then, before Annette can tell her not to worry about it, she stands up, leaning her knee on the countertop to give her extra height. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Um.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Annette motions for her to get down because frankly she doesn't have words. Edelgard still perches on the counter, a chef looking at her with a certain puzzled look that Edelgard must get a lot. It isn't until Annette taps her on the hip that Edelgard stops. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only she more </span>
  <em>
    <span>recoils</span>
  </em>
  <span> with a half-choked gasp, holding the hip like Annette dropped tea on it. (Don't ask her how she knows.) "Please don't touch me," she pleads, something wild in her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, for sure!" Annette looks a little scared, probably at the zero to 100 shift in Edelgard. "I forgot you didn't like that! I'm super sorry!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard can't hide the look of disappointment in her eyes which, wow, nothing has </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>hurt her heart so quickly. "It's forgiven," she responds, but the smile is far too much of a rush job for Annette to buy it. And honestly, that mood is on her. She messed up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Edelgard takes a seat, dusting herself off, Annette tries to assess the situation. She's not a picky eater, and she's never really known one besides Felix (and, like, screw him anyway) but that's okay. It's a new situation, not a hard one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking at Edelgard as casually as she can muster: "So. Do you know exactly what it is you want?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard thinks, eyes closed, head down. Then, reversing the position: "I don't know what any of these are called but… I recall it having salmon, cream cheese, and avocado." She pauses. "That's an actual thing, correct?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette giggles. "So formal!" As Edelgard frowns with a blush defying her, Annette looks at the conveyor belt. "Nah, that's neat. Anyway, yeah, that's an Arianrhod Roll, or an Arianroll." With another titter: "Yeah, it's dumb, I know." She's pleased to hear Edelgard laugh with her for a few seconds, a snort just before a whimsical, adorable little lyre. "But that's what you want?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It would seem that way." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before she can debate Annette about the benefits of kneeling on the counter (she </span>
  <em>
    <span>would </span>
  </em>
  <span>have and you can't convince Annette otherwise) she flags down the chef from earlier. Edelgard utters a stunned "Uhh?" as the chef walks towards them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, can we get her an Arianroll?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chef simply nods and leaves to make it. A surprised, coy smile crosses Edelgard's face. Thank Seiros and those other four, she saved it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you, Annette." Edelgard doesn't look at her, the only manner she struggles to keep, but Annette likes seeing her more human. She also really feels like she won a prize to have Edelgard happy with her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Honestly, though, the prize is spending time with an old friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course, Edelgard!" Annette almost gently claps her shoulder before remembering how Edelgard reacted to the last touch and pulling back so sharply she nearly falls over. Edelgard looks disappointed, which confuses the hell out of Annette and… honestly whatever, she'll play it safe and wait for her permission. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Arianroll is finished in impeccable time, the chef placing it between them both. Edelgard thanks him quietly and quickly, then forgoes niceties to take a bite of the roll, a pleased smile marring her face in the loveliest way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard makes her happier than she bargained for. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You sure you're not still hungry?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sue Annette for asking, but when Edelgard only eats the roll while she herself stacks ten plates, it's worrying for one of them or the other. "Okay, I guess." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two walk down the smaller of the two streets that the sushi bar was on, the faithful suitcase in Annette's hands. It's not a lonely side street with the potential for very violent creeps, so that's good that it's moderately sized, cars passing through. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I tend to eat small," Edelgard explains as they step over branches invading the sidewalk. "I can assure you that it was enough." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette thinks it over. "I'm gonna believe that," she finally responds before they cross a side street. "I just get worried sometimes, y'know?" She probably picked up that concerned mother behavior from Mercie and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Goddess </span>
  </em>
  <span>that feels bittersweet and </span>
  <em>
    <span>she doesn't know why.  </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you for your concern," Edelgard responds. "But I'm fine. Don't waste your concern on me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it's suddenly being put in a shitty mood but something about that sentence bristles her. "You're not a waste!" she crows, like the very idea galls her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard slows considerably, hand on her chest. Annette can't tell if she's angry or surprised, but her poker face is breaking. "Oh." And that's all she says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette couldn't be more confused over anything else. This is like playing Millionaire and the 50/50 takes away the answer she was kinda sure in. She doesn't even know if she should apologize or not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She just says words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Never a good idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. Like," she starts as they approach a slight curve in the road. "I don't want you to think I'm bored to tears humoring you." Wow, she's suddenly very clammy. "I, ah…" She can't stop her tiny little blush. "I'm having a great time. Probably better than I would have at the Mach." Edelgard smiles too, looking very embarrassed by the act. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette likes it a lot, so of course she ruins it. With a grimace: "I mean, Mercie would definitely be occupied with Ingrid all evening and I'd hate being left out." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard picks up on her harsh tone. "I'm sorry, Annette. That must be so difficult." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette shrugs. "Eh, no need to worry about me." She looks at Edelgard again. "Like, yeah, I'm irritated by other stuff, but I'm having fun here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks away, but lord she is definitely blushing. Annette's heart hits a beat she didn't know hearts could hit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Me too, Annette. I promise." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They approach a mini-mart and instantly split up, gathering what they need with efficiency like a military drill. Annette snags a couple of pastries, a deck of cards, a notebook, a pen, and a couple of wine coolers because if they're gonna get cheap alcohol, they're going to get stuff that doesn't make her wanna throw up. She meets Edelgard at the register, watching as she lays a flashlight and throw blanket on the counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Annette watches her pile a couple of liter-sized fruity sodas and two quarts of ice cream next to it all. Annette just giggles, making Edelgard blush again. "I, ah…" She scratches her neck. "I might have a sweet tooth." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I think you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span>," Annette snorts. "But don't we all."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cashier finishes ringing their things up. Just as he's about to give them their total, Edelgard says "Excuse me, sir, but there's a bag of ice and a cooler on the floor." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette starts to cackle as the clerk looks over the counter to see its presence next to where Annette put her suitcase. Wordlessly, he punches in their prices and gives them their total. Edelgard pulls her wallet out. "You paid for dinner," she points out like Annette paying a little over twenty is the same thing as Edelgard paying around fifty here. She can't formulate an argument against it, but damn if she isn't giving Edelgard the stink eye as she pulls out a fifty and gives it to the clerk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She thanks them and then both walk out with their lot. Then, without warning, Edelgard tells her to clear the cooler. After it's clear, Edelgard rips the ice bag open and pours it in like the Goddess unleashing the flood on the Agarthans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hot damn," she breathes. Before she gets too much like… well, whatever she's like, she gets the drinks out of the plastic bag and sets them in the cooler. Edelgard does the same with the cavalcade of things she bought. If anyone saw what they bought, they'd probably assume the girls switched bodies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the cooler is full, Edelgard shuts it tightly before standing it on its wheels, pulling it like she pulls her suitcase. Annette hums, impressed by her foresight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, Annette." Edelgard starts to walk, and suddenly Annette's the follower. "Where to next?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette calls back on her memory of the city from years ago. She's got the whole map memorized because four years just does that to a girl. "Hum," she says, holding up a finger. She brings up a mental map in her head that she follows down the street and left at the next intersection to a hideaway little park that's- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Perfect!" she declares, impressed with herself. Even when she doesn't know, she knows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks back at her, stopping where she is. "Have you found a place?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette nods, grinning like an idiot. "Sure have." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's probably not the most surprising thing in the world that Annette is not used to having picnics at (she checks her watch) nine in the evening. And even if she did, she'd never imagine a picnic to be pastries, tubs of ice cream, soda, and alcohol, even in her weirdest of dreams. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's absolutely nothing she understands about this other than she just </span>
  <em>
    <span>felt </span>
  </em>
  <span>it in her bones. So did Edelgard, she thinks. It's some weird symbiotic Brock-Venom thing where they just became one for a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard unfurls the blanket, letting it stretch out over a patch of grass at Wilhelm Park. They're at the heart of the park, none too far from the walkway because of the limitations of the cooler's wheels. Annette's still reeling from when Edelgard successfully marched with it in her arms. Must have frozen for ten seconds before Edelgard told her not to worry. What steroids is </span>
  <em>
    <span>she </span>
  </em>
  <span>on? That cooler is like a third of her size. She's having a hard time with the suitcase but that's her responsibility, back off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahem. Anyway. They're in the middle of the park. Since it's nine in the evening, no one's there, but Annette will keep an eye out for creeps. There's a baseball diamond to their South and a fishing lake to their West, the water still in it. That doesn't mean that they'll be </span>
  <em>
    <span>thrilled</span>
  </em>
  <span> if anyone uses it to swim but whatever, it's not like they brought swimsuits. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sits on the blanket criss-cross applesauce, twilight seeping into the distantly lit summer night. "Okay, so. Our…" She laughs. "Our </span>
  <em>
    <span>meal.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard sighs in a very exaggerative, pointed way. Annette cackles, slapping her knee. "Seiros, you're gonna attract monsters with sighs like that." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard chuckles just a little, even as she tries to maintain a sullen look. "Would you hand me a pastry?" she asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette does so. It's a danish of… some flavor, one she hopes Edelgard likes. That's probably any sweet flavor, though, so unless they started making turkey danishes, she should be in the clear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you," Edelgard responds, breezier than usual. Annette looks up to see her unwrap it with a chipper smile, taking a bite. She smiles as she swallows. "It's cream cheese," she explains. "My favorite." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette smiles. "Oh gosh, what a lucky pick!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard's smile seems to indicate more than that. Still, she nods, wiping her messy lips off with the wrapper. Annette winces; they probably should have bought paper towels. Ah well, can't be helped now. Besides, she likes seeing Edelgard doing unrefined things. She's so regal, like a little princess. It looks so… human on her. Touchable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette flushes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No, doofus, not literally touchable, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she scolds herself. That'd be rude, especially seeing how Edelgard reacted to the tap on her hip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Penny for your thoughts?" Edelgard asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette flushes. "Uhm, I don't know. I'm just…" She better lie, quick. "Wondering if anyone is missing us. You know, at school." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard shrugs, but it's not nearly as natural as she hopes. "I did text Hubert that I was leaving, but he's such a worrywart, even from thousand of miles away." With another sigh rivaling the legends of Hapi: "Can't imagine anyone else is, though. The Black Eagles class was empty, but…" She doesn't finish, taking another bite of danish and going just an eensy bit red. She does that a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But what?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uhm…" </span>
  <em>
    <span>There </span>
  </em>
  <span>we go, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that's </span>
  </em>
  <span>the full on blush that Annette was waiting for. "I mean, my reunion wasn't necessarily for…" She looks around before setting the danish in her lap. "People, I suppose you could say." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Rirry? Wha wuvvit foh?" Annette asks, mouth full of her apple danish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks away, an uncomfortable look on her face. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Assuming</span>
  </em>
  <span> you asked what I was there for, I was there mostly… to be there again." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette swallows this time. "Oh, nostalgia!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods with a smile like </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah, you got it, buddy. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"If there's one thing I remembered about Garreg Mach, it was the architecture. Not just, like… how the buildings looked. The, well…" She waves her hand in front of her face, something Annette also does if she's on loading mode. "The way the walkways from the reception hall shielded me from the hot Blue Sea Sun. The way the library was often so empty I could hear my own thoughts. The earthy smell of the back path to the stables-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm pretty sure I know what that earthy smell was," Annette chuckles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard closes her eyes as if hiding from her own blush. "I mean, likely so, but it always had such a natural scent to it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Okay,</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Annette drawls. "I mean, I don't know how many people get nostalgic for horse crap, but you never know." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard gets a mean, playful grin on her face. "Hush, you," she commands before lightly shoving her and </span>
  <em>
    <span>wow they were close enough to each other to do that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Annette stays still, catching the breath that Edelgard just stole away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She goes transparently white. "Annette, are you okay? I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette blinks a few times in rapid succession before she's back on this planet. "Nonono, it's okay! I swear!" Edelgard's legs relax but her face does not. "I just…" Annette can't figure it out. "I don't know what came over me either. I just…" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gets both sodas out- strawberry for Edelgard, lemon-lime for herself. Holding one out to her, Annette says "Here. Maybe a good drink will refresh us." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard takes hers and settles down, but not before joking "I believe the good drinks are still in the cooler." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Patience, my Emperor," Annette says with a grin. "We don't have to sneak it in. We can drink it whenever we want." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard sighs. "But that time is not now?" Annette shakes her head sternly. "Hmph. Pity." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette smirks. "Oh, don't worry. There's still a few good hours in the day. We'll get tipsy later." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll hold you to that," Edelgard responds with an eye roll. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Getting out of your shell a little? Awesome." Then Annette has to try not to look like she's panicking that her teasing has hit real life. She doesn't know how Edelgard will take it. Will she think Annette's irritating? Smothering? What if she thinks Annette's flirting! That wasn't her intention… she thinks. Damn it, she's not sure. Why would she flirt with Edelgard? Annette's not really into women.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not really? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her mind teases.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she responds, forcing her way back to surface before she looks too weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She does and finds that literally all of that panic happened in a handful of seconds, and there's still a smile on Edelgard's face, chin in her hand. "Oh, thank God you're not offended!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard shakes her head. "I've noticed you sneaking things in that comment on my attitude and thought processes. It had me confused, but the more you do it, the more I consider the idea that you just want me to have a good time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, it was obvious that Annette wanted Edelgard to have a good time, but… just hearing it like that, the surprise, the relief, the gratitude to a higher being that she didn't waste a night getting on a bus with Annette…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's definitely a lot she didn't expect, but surprisingly comforting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking another bite of danish so she can distract from her blush, she says "Corsh I cawabow tha! Wew.. " She swallows. "Well, since we started to hang out tonight. I remember you, but like, you weren't in my classes so I didn't know where you were but…" She wipes her mouth off. "It's been super fun!" She decides not to say again that she's happier spending time with Edelgard at Goddess knows where, eating danishes and getting quasi-drunk than she would be sixth-wheeling with the Lions. She's having a much better time here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hopes Edelgard is as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cards and notebook are out. It's really good that Edelgard knows games, because… well, Annette didn't think that far. "They must not have taught a class on that," Edelgard whispers under her breath. Annette tries not to laugh or show self-consciousness at the remark when she kind of wants to do both. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard teaches her how to play a few card games like Gin Rummy and Poker, games so simple that it's kind of offensive that Annette didn't learn them. Edelgard is a good and patient teacher, which Annette and her approximate dog crap attention span could never return. Pretty soon, she's been playing these games her whole life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"In this version," she explains "you're allowed to discard as many of your cards one time, if you don't care for your hand." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette looks at the hand she was dealt and, okay, she's no expert but she doubts five different colors of four different suits is a good one. "Okidoke," she says, breezily dropping her whole hand in the discard pile and picks up a new one. Edelgard tries to hide her laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette looks at her new hand, then at the notebook where Edelgard helpfully drew the possible hands and stacked them by volume. She has… a pair of eights, which isn't super awesome, but it's better than before. Edelgard observes her hand and drops two in the discard pile, grabbing two new ones. That means that she has at least three cards she's happy with, which is more than two. Damn it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I bet five points," she announces, which is conservative for a girl who's about to crush Annette beneath her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yo, can you only fold in the second round?" she asks Edelgard. "Because screw this hand." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you would like to, then you are welcome to." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette grins. "I'm showing incredible restraint by not throwing these in the lake, but okay." She places her hand face-down on the blanket, then remembers and flips it face-up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Huh," Edelgard notes. "Good call." She shows her cards, which contain a set of three fives. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's a mercy." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods. "I take my five chips back. You gain and lose none." She marks the score in the notebook, though Annette is a wee bit surprised that she feels a need to mark two zeroes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's done is done," she says, drawing five new cards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard follows her lead despite looking up at her. "Would you mind terribly if I gave you some advice, Annette?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette nods her head enthusiastically. "Uh, I mean yes! I mean, go for it!" Edelgard fails to hide this chuckle, low and wolflike, but no matter. Annette </span>
  <em>
    <span>loves </span>
  </em>
  <span>learning things, which made her an oddity in the Academy because she guesses that you're supposed to hate learning at a school? Something like that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smiles the sort of relieved smile that says </span>
  <em>
    <span>I was worried you'd tell me to piss off. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"There are two things I'd note. One, if you have such a diaspora of cards, keep the highest one or those with a common suit if daring for a flush. That way, when you discard some, you are more likely to make a higher score. If worst comes to worse, you can at least use your highest card to try to win that suit. The only time you should recycle a hand completely is if none of your cards are high." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette processes it. It takes a bit of doing but she's used to very efficient, fast talking teachers. "Okay, heard." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flash of joy in Edelgard's eyes is the only thing that changes. "My second piece of advice is that you should absolutely bluff more. It wouldn't have changed anything here as folding would take me out of contention either way, but you're very free to fool me. In this case, fool me into thinking I have a worse hand than you by betting confidently. Perhaps I'd fold and you wouldn't lose anything. Perhaps I'd up the ante and the game would end with lost chips." She shrugs. "It's a risk either way, but a tool in your arsenal." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, Edelgard really should teach. Sure, she's a little fast, but she also knows what she's talking about and explains it well. "Question," Annette says, raising her hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smirks just a little. "Seeing as the classroom is empty save for you, you may answer." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette giggles. "Okay. Uhm, what if I have a horrible poker face?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The smirk turns into a mirthful smile. "Well, doing well is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps you could make faces and do…" She spins her hand in the air, thinking. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Annette things,"</span>
  </em>
  <span> Annette cackles so hard she falls over. Undeterred, Edelgard finishes. "With a hand that doesn't match said face. You're often so prone to exaggeration that if you acted surly at a good hand, I might be inclined to believe it and bet higher. You could echo it, and I'd be down a handful of chips." She looks at her hand, quizzical. "Of course, the best face to have is a neutral one, but that can be defined person to person." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Easy for you to say," Annette teases, drawing cards. She reads them. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Goddamnit, not again. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her brow furrows. "I mean, you're a statue when you want to be." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You should see me with my family," Edelgard responds with a smile. "I'm not entirely sure they </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>emotions and so I lose damn near </span>
  <em>
    <span>always.</span>
  </em>
  <span> They redefined poker face." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seriously? I thought that you were already a brick wall, just in general." ...actually, she's gonna rescind that comment. "Not, like, not emotional but… always in control."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods, eyes prideful. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Well damn, work it. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"I like to think I'm in control of them, usually." She picks through her cards, covering her mouth. "I'm not entirely sure they have emotions, honestly." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's one of those lines that Annette needs to replay twice to, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>get. She hums sadly. That doesn't sound like a healthy place to grow up. She looks at her hand again briefly to be certain on a strategy, then looks up at Edelgard, cards still over her mouth but eyes baggy and distant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you holding the cards over your mouth so I don't see you frowning?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard sighs. "I'm never ever able to hide my emotions around you, am I?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of her feels kind of glad that they have a dynamic; she doesn't have many people she mixes with, and one of them might be too occupied to mix with her again. It makes her want to say something nice. "You're good," she starts, discarding three cards and drawing three more. "I'm just, like, a big old worrywart, you know? I can't help but worry about people I like." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smiles at her before discarding and drawing a card. "That's very kind of you." She's pretty when she smiles and Annette honestly lives to see it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're a friend, Edelgard," she responds. "I'm absolutely gonna be a friend back. Uh, five chips."  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, rest assured, that is very sweet of you, Annette. I'll…" While Annette beams like a sucker, Edelgard thinks. "I'll put forth ten."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ooh, matching </span>
  <em>
    <span>that." </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard raises an eyebrow. "Okay then." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette cheers. "Yeah, I'm gonna have some fun." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks at the notebook, counts her cards, and smiles. "Ten on ten. Ready?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"To show them?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods. "When bets match, it's a call to reveal. On three?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's do this." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"One, two, three." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them flip their cards over. Edelgard sports a full house of nines and queens. Annette's hand… she looks up for Edelgard to notice, grin teasing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She finally does. "Hmm, you- </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh?</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette snickers. "You forgot to take the jokers out." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard picks it up. "Huh. So I did." Then she bends over and laughs way louder than expected. Annette can't help it; she laughs too, mostly because Edelgard is and she's glad that she loosened up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard finally looks up, looking like she's warmed herself up with laughter. There's a way that her eyes crinkle that makes Annette feel more at ease. Makes her feel like maybe Edelgard has eased up a bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alas," she says with a twinkle in her eye. "Four of a kind bests a full house. Twenty points to you; my ten and a refund." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know where numbers come from, doofus." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smirks and manages to flick the joker card onto Annette. "Huh," she says flatly. "Wonder where that came from."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No clue," Annette responds, placing it in her pocket.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I'm gonna love you til you start looking back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Why have I not yet said that this is heavily inspired by my favorite fic of all time? Like I'm certain it'll turn into something more but like I owe 100% of the "write something as good as this" motivation to Cowboy_Sneep_Dip</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Okay, she can explain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wasn't eyeing it at </span>
  <em>
    <span>first. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>When she got here it just seemed natural that she wouldn't go into the lake. She didn't pack swimming clothes so why bother? Then, she remembered that summer went on </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever </span>
  </em>
  <span>in the Mach, and it was still something like seventy degrees even at this time of night. Now she's getting a little sticky with sweat and the lake taunts her out of the side of her right eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm hot," she complains, lying on the blanket, her shirt riding a bit up her back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard blinks for a moment before her eyes narrow, doodling in the notebook. "Ah, yes, you're from… Fhirdiad, yes? Typically cold there year-round." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know,</span>
  </em>
  <span>" she grouses. "So I get here and I melt into a little Annette puddle." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>pretty warm," Edelgard concedes. "I'm from South Adrestia, yet </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> think so." She sighs. "I can't seem to escape." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Honestly?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks up at Annette. "Yes, I do. This isn't miserable, mind, but not miserable still doesn't mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>good.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That should be my new life motto," Annette jokes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if judging her, she moves her pen to tap on her chin. "You don't seem quite dour enough for it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette laughs bitterly. "This frickin' heat's gonna make me dour enough." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard chuckles before seeing behind Annette. "Oh, right." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette decides that she really should stop worrying. "Hey, Edelgard… I know we didn't, like, bring anything, but just looking at that lake and not jumping into it makes me wanna die, sooooooo… I'm not sure if you feel something similar?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks at it. Considering the pool ladder at the end of the water and the beats parked at the end, it looks to be deep. And considering she's five-hour and Edelgard is barely taller, it definitely stands to concern.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie clears her throat. "I'd certainly be game after I see what the height is. I'm a mediocre swimmer." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette nods. "Good idea. All the water in Fhirdiad freezes over too much to swim in." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard lifts herself up, dusting her slacks off. "I'm going to see how deep it is. I'll be right back." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For some reason, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>runs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>At least she gets back quickly. "It's at four foot deepness by the dock." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's doable," Annette says. "So long as you have a change of clothes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't mind taking my pants off. I don't have any bikini bottoms, mind, but for this, I suppose my underwear will do." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette nods pretty woodenly because that… whew. She hopes Edelgard won't feel funny being so undressed near her. Annette feels a little weird about it; she doesn't want to seem like she's a peeper. She just blinks a couple of times. She'll behave. She knows she will. And isn't that the crux of it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've got clothes in my suitcase," she says, "but I might just do the same. If it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad, I'll hide in a bathroom and change but oh, well. We might get sundried anyways."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, Edelgard isn't gonna peep on her, and Annette won't even be that mad if she does, honestly. She never took herself for the desirable type. Not like there's even much to peep, but oh well, she likes her silly little body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smiles. "That seems like something we can do then, doesn't it?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edelgard still regards her with both admiration and concern after they've hit the water for a couple of minutes. Annette doesn't see anything notable, but it might have to do with how she scrambled her tiny body a few feet up a tree and, with Edelgard's very astonished help, hid her suitcase in its branches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not getting any less weird," she warns. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I apologize," Edelgard chuckles. "I'll calm myself." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette laughs, reclining and floating just so. "How do you usually hide your suitcases on trips like these, girl?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She doesn't answer at first, looking baffled. "Um… not in trees, certainly!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Trees are nature's locker," she says. "Kids used to stuff their things up in trees a lot up north because it was often too snowy or icy to walk."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard raises her eyebrows and her voice as she says "Annette Mackay, when last I checked, you are twenty-five years old!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette splashes her with a little water. "I'm still fun-sized, you geek." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard closes her eyes and holds her arms out in horror, looking not unlike Carrie in the pig blood. "Oh!" she screams, affronted. Then, before Annette can laugh/apologize/beg for mercy, Edelgard </span>
  <em>
    <span>douses </span>
  </em>
  <span>Annette with a veritable </span>
  <em>
    <span>wave. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Son of a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bitch!</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Annette shrieks in kind. "You </span>
  <em>
    <span>soaked </span>
  </em>
  <span>me!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard laughs cockily. "You should have known better than to attack a Hresvelg. Warfare is our bread and butter, Annette, and you just took the front lines." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wow, Annette will pay for movie tickets all of her life and never hear a villainous line </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> campy and wonderful. They really should cast more women in those films. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," Annette says, trying to think of her own clever line. After she takes too long, she says "I'm still gonna kill you, though." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>clever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And very untrue. Edelgard splashes her with little waves over and over before she can even get one together. When she does, Edelgard has a larger one together ready to fire, utterly ruining any chance of a counterattack in the wake of a one-woman blitzkrieg. "Oh, come on!" she yells. "Bullshit!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you yield?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette spits out a little bit of water. "Uh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Uncle!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard smiles. "Okay then." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she dunks Annette's head in the water for a second. She comes up with fury (and chlorine, most likely) in her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruthlessness must run in Hresvelg blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Bitch!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard cackles, high off of adrenaline. "I'm proud of you for learning some big-girl words between now and school." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, Annette </span>
  <em>
    <span>can't </span>
  </em>
  <span>help but laugh at that teasing. "I've learned a lot between then and now, Edelgard." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And yet you are still very much the same." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I hope." Annette literally tests the waters. Seems like Edelgard is done with her water torture, though all this </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>raises questions about Emperor Edelgard the First. "I like who I am." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods, placing an arm on her shoulder. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Holy crow, she touched me. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She usually hates doing that. "I think I like who you are too, Annette." Annette awws. What a moment! If she keeps being like that they'll be Loog and Kyphon in no time. "And for my money, I'm very glad you came." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette smiles, then scowls when she remembers the moment they saw each other again. "Definitely," she says, resuming her smile. "Uhm, there wasn't anything too weird about me when we met up, was there?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Edelgard blushes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There was, wasn't there?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just like that, say goodbye to Edelgard's cool, cocky confidence. Looking at the stars, then the water, then at other things that aren't Annette: "Not, ah, in a bad way. I could just tell you were hurt by something." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette nods grimly. "Figures I couldn't hide that." Great, the first time she sees Edelgard in five years she looks like someone ran over her dog, a look she learned from when someone ran over her dog.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard touches her shoulder. "It's okay. One can't be happy all the time, and at events like these, there can be a lot to affect your mood." She closes her eyes, but she's happy. Bliss incarnate. "Sometimes it's… good. Sometimes it's not."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of Annette can't help but feel heartwarmed that Edelgard wants to relate. Part of her just wants to cry. She keeps her face down, looking at the water. She needs to look up at Edelgard. She needs to look alive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's okay," Edelgard says, as if responding to her mind. "You don't have to look at me if you're troubled. I often fail to return it regardless."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette sniffles, tears ripping through the surface and drowning. "Th-thank you, Edelgard. I, uh…" She probably has to talk about it now, huh? Ugh. She doesn't even know why she's so upset. Maybe if she just goes without a filter she can get at the heart of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know why she kept it a secret." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's both not it and good enough. Edelgard stays quiet and Annette realizes a little late that she's just giving Annette the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like, we used to talk every day," she starts. Then, because she oopsy-daisy left a blank mannequin on stage instead of her bestie: "Mercie and I." She laughs briefly, painful. "Mercie and Annie. Garreg brought back a lot of memories. About me, about you… about Mercie."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods, blushing slightly at the mention of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And yeah, we used to talk every day, even when we both graduated. You know, I was in uni, she was off volunteering with different churches and charities and being just super sweet. And I guess over time, we started to lose touch. Recently I started work at a library, then I went through a few jobs and I'm still looking. So we didn't often talk. Message briefly every week or two, just… how was your day shit. But at the reunion, I'm so excited to see her again and them- boom. She's engaged to Ing." A beat. "Ingrid."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard hums, looking like a lightbulb popped up over her head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I guess I'm mad because she didn't tell me, but maybe she assumed I saw something online, but even then she </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw </span>
  </em>
  <span>I didn't react, and I, like, trace it back to, like, us not talking much. Drifting apart. And that makes me sad about time. That I could have done things differently to better keep her in my life. Be a presence there. Be her presence." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard hums again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And, yeah. That's it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think I understand," Edelgard responds. "And… I'd like to first say I'm sorry. It's not a good feeling." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not really, no," Annette explains. "Like…" She puts her hands up. They make ripples through the water that end when they hit Edelgard. "I know this sounds childish, but… I felt almost betrayed? If that makes </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>sense." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks down. "I'm hardly the best to ask about emotion," she admits. "But even if it was foolish or irrational, it sounds very legitimate that you would feel as such in that situation." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette suddenly feels like the mathematical equations to charter a ship to Morfis appeared in front of her. It's as complicated and confusing as it sounds. "The… situation?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I, ah…" Now Edelgard looks self-conscious. The lake surface must be fascinating today with all they've looked into it. "I might have misunderstood your words to mean that you felt…" She looks for the right word for the situation but Annette realizes what the situation is. "Jilted?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette chuckles a little. "I mean, not really, I don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>think?</span>
  </em>
  <span>" She never expected to run into this situation. Okay, she knows everyone says they're not homophobic before saying shit that kind of </span>
  <em>
    <span>is, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but she's gonna take a stab at it. She doesn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>think </span>
  </em>
  <span>she is, but Edelgard thinking she liked women concerns her. Because there were a few times she looked at her a certain way or reckoned with her being undressed, and she's been awfully touchy with her. The last thing she wants Edelgard to think is that she's perving on her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I understand if you didn't think of it that way," Edelgard explains. "I do think you should consider if you had feelings for Mercedes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, at least you knew who Mercie was," she sighs, relieved. "But yeah, it's not been romantic between us. She's like </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>older than me. Like, twenty-nine." Nice one, twenty-five. "So she's always been like an older sister to me. I really loved her, I'm just not jealous." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'd never dismiss something as mere jealousy," Edelgard swears. It's so </span>
  <em>
    <span>solemn. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Has a woman this epic just been hiding in plain sight this time? "I suppose it just reminds me of having feelings for a friend in class."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How so?" Annette puts her hand up so sharply that she splashes Edelgard again. "Oh, crap, I meant, if you feel like sharing." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard wipes the water off her face, only marginally looking less like a wraith than last time. "I'd not bring it up if I didn't wish to share it." </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You're talking to a purely feelsy fluffhead, Edelgard. It's okay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway. What happened was that I befriended a classmate. We talked often, at school or not. It was… a fascinating picture that they painted of themselves. Despite us being opposites, we were similar in a lot of ways." She spaces out for a moment like she's Annette or something. "I'll keep the stories anonymous to protect their identity. I'll just say that it was easy to fall for them so slowly that I didn't notice it. If you'll pardon the expression, I was a frog being slowly cooked." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Forgiven." Not forgotten, though. Jeepers. "But where exactly are you going with this?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, they got engaged to someone I didn't know they were with. Like your Mercedes." She runs a slick hand through her hair. "At first, my anger manifested in the form of 'why did they never tell me?' I felt used. Then I realized all the excuses I came up for why they used me were separately or equally reasons I liked them. It went away, and they're very happy now. But, like… if you feel tricked or used… it might be because they were loving and you saw it as romantic." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Huh. "Let me think," she starts, finger up and nearly jabbing Edelgard. (Being a verbal talker has never been a worse trait.) "I don't think it was? I really don't. I mean, it would solve everything if it were because I'm really frickin' confused."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard nods respectfully. "I understand. I just, uh…" Edelgard wraps her arms around herself as if she's chilly. "I could tell a little. You just had that look in your eye that says 'I just lost something'. Like a wall collapsed." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette kneads her forehead because she's really confused now. "Yeah but, like, I didn't lose anything. It's not like we were ever gonna start dating. I mean, I've never been into girls like that. It's just…" She looks at the water like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hey, interesting, an answer</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She can't find one, so she speaks. "It's hard to think about because we've been best friends forever. Like, the idea of her being engaged… like I said, she didn't tell me, and that stung a lot." Then, realizing that this is a situation where she can't play the fool and deal in absolutes, adds "I think that's what it is." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks her over like she's reading more into it, which is never a good idea. Still, all she does is give Annette a small bow in the water like the noble class still exists. "I think I understand what you mean. I, ah…" She keeps her head down. "I think it just reminds me of my classmate." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh." Immediately, Annette takes the distant stare as a sign that it still hurts more than she says. "Well, damn, I'm sorry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's appreciated," Edelgard responds. She reaches out her hand and Annette… well, she didn't expect it at all, but she wants to comfort such a nice, lonely woman. She takes it, and Edelgard leads her a step closer. At least, she thinks that she did. She's not gonna creep on her new dear friend and go further. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I, ah…" So that's why Edelgard pulled her closer. Her voice is so low and choppy, betraying itself. Annette feels her hand tremble, gripping her wrist for dear life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's a </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If it hurts too much to tell me, you don't have to," Annette insists. "I really hate seeing you work yourself up so much, especially for my sake." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard has her eyes closed, as if trying to meditate while an earthquake distorts her insides. It doesn't work, go figure. "I, ah, I may need to wait. I apologize for making a scene, Annette." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette shakes her head. The first few times she over-apologized, it was cute, quirky, but now Annette's kind of worried about her. But worry tends to often denote that the problem and its root are a mystery, and Annette vaguely knows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She might be the first person to tell Edelgard this. That's kind of sad, come to think of it, but oh well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're a really good person, you know?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard looks at her in frozen shock, hand under her eye. "I'm… what?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette giggles. "You're a really good person, silly. You're classy, you're generally organized, you're gutsy, and you're super eloquent. Like, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>could </span>
  </em>
  <span>be an emperor if you were a little more confident in yourself." She stops for a second before adding "I mean, I totally get why that's a thing, but… yeah. You're cool. I've thought so for years and I hope you learn that soon." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edelgard </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>wipes a tear from her eye this time. "I, ah… that's very kind, it…" She swallows. "I don't hear that often. Hubert, ah, isn't very comforting, as loyal a friend as he is. And it's not really something I can do, provoke someone to compliment me, obviously. Nor should I. Still, like…" She looks everywhere but Annette's eyes until Annette holds her shoulder because she's daring today or something. She puts on her friendliest oh-goodness smile to help draw Edelgard's attention, eyes crinkled and smile charmed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The interesting thing is that she means it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She's never made a friend so fast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll treasure those words for a lifetime, Annette. I promise." She holds her hand with both hands as if making a sacred covenant. "I sincerely hope they'll help me make the changes that I need."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette just smiles. Edelgard's hands just have a certain power to them. Or maybe it's her words. Or maybe it's just her. Just… being near her gives her a lightheaded rush. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The weird thing is that Annette kind of likes it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I hope so too, Edelgard."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's the last time Annette consistently calls her by her full name. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of it is because she's just kind of over that. You can't swim with someone that close and be like </span>
  <em>
    <span>what a splendid time we shared, Madam Hresvelg, </span>
  </em>
  <span>that's for sure. She's not a nineteenth century Derdriu Dandy.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of it is also that she gets the two wine coolers out. "Pina Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri. Which do you want? I'm cool with either." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie thinks, again sitting on her feet and putting her wet hair into a ponytail. Both of them still have the clothes on from the swim, air-drying off. "I'd prefer the strawberry, truth be told." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Definitely." She hands Edie the strawberry and sets the Pina Colada down. When she sits down she can spiritually feel the wet ass-prints she leaves. "Careful, Edie, one wine cooler can still wreck your day."  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blushes. "I am aware of that, but thank you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just wanted to make sure you knew because they look like spicy soda." Annette takes a sip and coughs twice. "Yeah, they're super not." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My parents tend to bring them on barbecues. Or drink them when meeting with another family. I was, of course, encouraged to follow suit, though I can't say I often enjoyed it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette purses her lips. "Well, damn…" She sets her bottle down as Edie unscrews hers. "Do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>yours?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed takes the cap off. Smiling triumphantly: "I'm very fine with these here and now." Raising her glass: "Here's to better company." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette beams, flattered to the point of radiance because if Edie says she's good, she's good. "To better company." Than the reunion, than their stuffy parents, than girls who don't have time for them. "Drink up, Edie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blinks just once after she hears that name but that's still a three-alarm fire at best. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span>," she responds with unusual emphasis. She takes a sip which, really, dumbass Annette should have done in the first place. But then she finds that her eyes are still gravitating towards Edie. Her hair, still soaked and plastered to her head, looks much freer than it did before. And honestly, so does she. Less… held back. She seems comfortable being there; hell, she's glowing. She's more beautiful after the swim than she was before, her skin glistening, her hair wavy and bright like a lighthouse beacon, her scar poking out of her tank top that fits her… incredibly snugly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Annette isn't at </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>sure why her mind goes there. Sure, they're bigger than hers but being embarrassed by stuff like that stays in puberty even if she has to triple lock the temporal doors, damn it. So why do they interest her so much? It's not like they're </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>much better than hers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>," she says, non-covertly having looked at them for a full minute. It would probably be longer, but Annette saw the shape of a pert and present nipple in the lining of the tank top and jerked her eyes away, again in the most unsubtle way she could. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is something wrong?" Edie asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yeah, you thought I was gay and I'm really confused now! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Annette shakes her head. "Nope! Was juuuust thinking!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>wishes she could stop. She absolutely, 100% did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>expect to be thinking about This.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Good thing she has a drink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edie flops to the side like a dead fish laughing. "There's no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way,</span>
  </em>
  <span>" she spits out between attempts to breathe. "Literally, like-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette claps her hands. "Nope! I am absolutely not screwing with you. Sophomore year was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>of a time." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I just-" She throws a hand onto her forehead. "A </span>
  <em>
    <span>scarecrow!</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's how bad Sylvain is," Annette insists, taking another sip. "He literally flirts with </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>when he drinks</span>
  <em>
    <span>. </span>
  </em>
  <span>We used to mock him all the time for that- well, except Felix. He just got mad." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie forces herself back up, still giggling. "Jealous," she mocks in a sing-song way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Probably!" Annette laughs back. "I kinda rooted for them both, right? Cause they're both awful and they can take each other off the market!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie cackles. "Oh, how efficient!" she declares, clapping once. Then: "Our entire class was some level of queer. Which I didn't know was statistically possible but that's besides the point." Wiping her brow: "That was quite the relief to me, as I wasn't interested in any of the men trying to hit on me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, how come?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie gives her the driest look Annette thinks has ever existed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>duh</span>
  </em>
  <span>, frick I'm sorry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do I need to take that bottle from you, Miss Annette?" Edie teases, and that sounds like a great idea for a few seconds because it means that Edie is closer. For her money, she hasn't taken more than a couple of sips. Annette hasn't either. She suddenly wants to stay at least mostly sober. To take in this moment for real.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm good," she lies, because if Edelgard knew what Annette was thinking at that and how much it involves Edie climbing all over her, she might be more weirded out than Annette is with herself. "Just my mind going to-" </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stop right there, dipstick! </span>
  </em>
  <span>"Uh… that's cool! I totally didn't know you were gay." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"To be fair, neither did a </span>
  <em>
    <span>single</span>
  </em>
  <span> non-Beagle from the reunion," she grouses. "It was news to even a few of them." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They </span>
  <em>
    <span>suck,</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Annette whines. "I'm so glad I'm not there." For many reasons, but she's not gonna kill the mood by mentioning them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie smiles warmly, so much it narrows her eyes. "Me too," she says like a confession. "This is… fun." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette smiles harder than ever when she feels the heat in her face and a throb in her chest. This is just getting crazy now. "I'm, uh… I'm gonna get the ice cream." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loosened up, Edie says "hell yes, Annie. Thank you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course!" Annie squeaks out before whirling around to the cooler, which she </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs </span>
  </em>
  <span>to cool herself off. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>clicks in her head as she realizes that Edie calling her Annie is really setting her off. Like… did she sneak in a couple of margies from the Garreg Mach tables not thinking about it? Or is this something more?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette furrows her brow. Her head hurts and she has no clue how gay of her this all is. Not that she's scared of being a </span>
  <em>
    <span>mega</span>
  </em>
  <span> homo, but still, she hasn't really head on considered it until tonight. Until Edie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it's best to just roll with it and stop freaking out over every little thing. She grabs the jugs of ice cream until she makes a realization. She gasps, digging through the ice to confirm that, nope, no one secretly bought any.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We don't have any </span>
  <em>
    <span>spoons!</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hears a cackle in the background. "We didn't buy any… like, plastic shit?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nope! And we've got two huge things of ice cream!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seiros preserve us," she says, a laugh still in her voice. "Uhm, just take them out to thaw. We can let them melt into, like, milkshake-type things." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Those are big-ass milkshakes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You clearly do not have faith in me, Annie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something hits her in the pit of her stomach. It's… hunger? No, a little left to that. It's… </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Edie straight across from me, asking "when are you gonna kiss me" and me immediately pushing her to the ground and kissing her everywh-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Yep. It's desire. Very, very intense desire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She's really a gay girl, isn't she?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, glad she figured that little atom bomb out. Now back to her regularly scheduled uselessness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She takes both quarts out and sets them on the ground after she turns around and </span>
  <em>
    <span>holy frickin' Cethleann what a time for a sexual Awakening.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey there," Edie says shyly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette forgets what words are. Eventually, Edie gives up on her useless ass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie's buttoning the middle button on a blue plaid flannel Annie had no clue she had on her. It fits her loosely due to the lack of undershirt, though she could have just put on her stripe shirt. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ohoho</span>
  </em>
  <span>, thank Cichol she didn't though! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's a few buttons from the top, so she can see the full length of her pink bra and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Goddess </span>
  </em>
  <span>she's gonna run out of holy names. She forces herself to swivel her head away and not think </span>
  <em>
    <span>Macuil help me, they're bigger than I thou- </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Annette?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie was getting confident for a while, but when she talks now her voice wavers, lost in the wind. She also used her full name which, now that she briefly adopted the crotch-inflaming nickname of Annie, makes her feel like she's about to be grounded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"'Sup, Edie?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie doesn't respond at first, instead bowing her head. Annette's really worried that something's wrong. What on Earth did her seven layers of simping mess with? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, she gets the courage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've noticed," she starts, agonizingly slow. "Ever since I mentioned I was gay, you've been acting strangely. Not meeting my eye, often turning away with some excuse, and reacting to a lot of my words like..."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, the anonymity was nice while it lasted. </span>
  </em>
  <span>What's more, Edie seems none too happy so Annette's gonna be jealous for her friend, find out she's gay, and get shot down by the closet key. And she'll probably still categorize this as a good day because everything around those were fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Edie sighs, a stony look on her face. "Did me coming out bother you? Because I feel like it did and-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette is the most stunned that she'll ever be. Words don't make sentences in her brain. She just… saw all of that and came to the conclusion that Annette was </span>
  <em>
    <span>homophobic.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What </span>
  </em>
  <span>seems about right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't humor me, please," she responds, getting angrier. "I don't have the constitution to take it and…" She closes her eyes. "I can't fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. Sothis help me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No. No, no, no. Edie's very angry and very hurt. "Edie, I promise, that isn't at all the case. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>swear </span>
  </em>
  <span>it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just…" she balls her fists. "People avoid me all the time. It's like I'm not </span>
  <em>
    <span>there</span>
  </em>
  <span> and- a-and that's what </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>did." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Edie, don't do this," Annette begs. "I swear that's </span>
  <em>
    <span>not it!</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie freezes in place save for her eyes creaking open. When she sees the sheer panic in Annette's eyes, ashamed of herself, she gasps. It seems like, for someone always able to conjure up the right thing to say, she might be speechless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like, I'm not gonna treat you badly because you're gay, Edie, I swear that's the truth. I was surprised, yeah, which I </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>shouldn't be because you were in the class of wayward queer folk, but like, I didn't expect it because…" Well, her words are scattering back down her throat through this word vomit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie tries to regard her with a blank look. "Annette," she says, sounding so distant. "You need to finish that sentence, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette blinks, overwhelmed. She's just… overwhelmed. It's all hitting her, that she's not just gay for Edie, but she probably was a little for Mercie in a nonsexual way. It's hitting her, every little action she took before that should have tipped her off. It's hitting her that Edelgard Hresvelg thinks that Annette is </span>
  <em>
    <span>disgusted </span>
  </em>
  <span>in her, not… an utter fool for all things Edie, at long last. How she talks, how she loosens up, how she has perfect posture and </span>
  <em>
    <span>we won't go there about her body </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the most weathered skin and hair she's ever seen in a way that says </span>
  <em>
    <span>let me tell you a story.</span>
  </em>
  <span> So weathered that four years of school didn't strip her of her heart, or decades hiding in plain sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She snaps out of it. Edelgard needs an </span>
  <em>
    <span>answer. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She's about to leave here thinking that Annette doesn't want to be around her. That can't-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She is </span>
  <em>
    <span>close</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette looks behind her to see who moved and she's pretty far from her original place. She's close to Edie's face, one that writes so much fear yet even more hope. Probably just a gay thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette feels it too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Edie, I think I'm into you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blinks. "...what?" she shrieks in her highest register, so high her voice sounds weak."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her voice gets more desperate. "Look, I know l said I was straight, but I'm absolutely not. You clocked me and, like, you don't have to do anything, but I'm- Edie, I-I'm awake." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie looks at her the best that she can. The tearful eyes, the weak smile, the fact that even through it all, she is </span>
  <em>
    <span>awake. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Annie…"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie seems to have lost her ability to speak in exchange for this forest fire in her body from core to surface that Edie has </span>
  <em>
    <span>quite </span>
  </em>
  <span>illegally lit up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, she moves closer, praying that Edie connects the dots. She does, it slowly dawning on her that Annie means it. That she </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be this close. That she wants to be closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Edie doesn't react, she asks "c-can I touch you, Edie?" tears in her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even then, Edie asks "are you sure?" Probably because nothing will be the same ever again once this threshold is crossed. Annie just nods. Edie looks like her heart is about to burst. "Okay," she breathes. "Thank you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It may have been a timeline of three hours, but Annie knows that she's made the right choice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie initiates the kiss, getting Annie out of her paused bewilderment. She tries to keep her teeth as far away from her lips as possible because... well, let's just call it experience. Edelgard hasn't had experience before, making her a modest kisser, moving far too slowly, putting her arms over Annette's shoulders. Annette enjoys how soft and shaky it is, like Edie's lips are the seas and her arms are anchors. It's so nice, but as a wise woman said, "we all have our hunger." Still, she isn't sure if she should step up the pace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She removes her lips, keeping her head next to Edie's. "Uhm… may I, sweetie?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie breathes for a couple of moments, as if scared that she wants what Annie does. Then, she just nods and, well, good enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We all have our hunger. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She gives her the courtesy for a few deep breaths, then kisses her with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>less softness. She takes up Edie's shoulders in her arms, holding her closer but never close enough. It takes no time at all for Edie to open her mouth, even before Annie's tongue comes a-knocking. Their tongues swing and sway at any taste they can get of each other, their heads still turning and tilting. Annie wraps her legs around Edie's waist, making her gasp in Annie's mouth. Oh, that's the sweetest thing she's tasted all day. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Edie is delicious, literally and metaphorically. If she never ate before today she'd never eat afterward. There's something so right about this that it feels wrong, like Annie wasn't supposed to have it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wonders if Edie feels the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Edie clasps the small of Annie's back and she becomes voracious. Everyone from Garreg Mach has always seen her as the nice, kooky, innocent kid. Right now, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>absolutely </span>
  </em>
  <span>isn't. She's an absolute slut for Edie, this mythical magical lesbian deity that the Goddess blessed her with just to provoke her to come out to herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wraps her legs around Edelgard's stomach, bringing her waist dangerously close to her. Edie's breasts press against Annette to indicate that she wants to be just as close. God, she loves how they're nearly the same height because it means that they just line up. It's simple science, nothing crazy or complex like Annie loves, but she thinks she loves this more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's beautiful how smoothly this works. There's no fight for dominance, no demand or pressure for anything they're not ready to do. It's just a hungry kiss, one where each gives as much as they receive. Annette kisses with kindness, surprised by every one that she gives, as much as Edie feels hesitant to receive them. She's more than good enough. She deserves to have moments like this when she's old and gray to look back on and remember that, at one point, she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive </span>
  </em>
  <span>when she was younger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, the two have to, like, breathe, so they pull apart, forehead to forehead, Annie's legs as tight around Edie as possible. Edie brushes her disaster hair out of her eyes with such a gentle hand that Annie can't decide what she loves more- hardness or softness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it's simpler than that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie looks her in the eye. "Do you have a place to stay for the night, Annie?" </span>
</p><p><span>"Probably get a hotel somewhere," Annie breathes, holding her so closely it feels like desperation, like </span><em><span>please don't</span></em> <em><span>leave me. </span></em></p><p>
  <span>Edie mmms, as if thinking. After a few seconds, she takes a deep breath. "I, ah… my family has a house here in Garreg Mach and… I have a key, so… it'd be free, so maybe it would work better for your budget?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The way Edie blushes so much that Annie can feel her says that it's not the budget she's worried about. Neither is Annie, for that matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'd love that, Edie-bean." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blushes. Turning away doesn't hide her charmed smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wilhelm Park will go down in Annie's memory probably as the park she loved being at but cannot wait to leave.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. come with me, I'll take you home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Shouts to a very sapphic song. This is officially the first published Maeve Writes A Sex Thing, which a virgin should never do lol so I didn't go wild. Just girls love!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"I just fucking realized we left all our mini mart stuff at the park." </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Edie </span>
  </em>
  <span>is the one to spit that with such venom that she might kill people with her words. Annette holds her in their personal seats in the back of the bus, trying too much to look normal to passersby. "Well…" She shrugs. "At least it might help others." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Easy for you to say when you remembered your suitcase, but I see what you mean." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They have my </span>
  <em>
    <span>clothes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Edie. It's not melted ice cream. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>need </span>
  </em>
  <span>those."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie tenses next to her. It takes her a few seconds to clear her chest before she whispers in Annie's ear. Annie makes the mistake of thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh, come on, girl, what's she gonna s-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well… not tonight." </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh… well, I'll be damned. You… you have fun, kid.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>If she doesn't die right there, she will.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They're going to be on the bus for about twenty minutes, and all that time they've gotta at least pretend to be hetero. The two of them snuck a few more kisses at the bus stop, and that desperate inability to keep their hands to themselves is making this ride hell on wheels. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie surfs on her phone to pass the time, the phone conspicuously angled to hide the screen from her. Annie's incredibly curious but is a little too busy trying to steady her breath along the ride. She isn't sure if she needs to look up any explicit tips online, since here partners were cis dudes before and… look, that's way too easy. Then again, maybe Annie is being </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>overeager. Maybe Edie's just teasing her, they're just gonna make out a little bit and call it a day and she's gonna wish her well before leaving for the hotel. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The way that Edie kisses her as soon as they get to the house makes Annie think that, at the very least, she'll be there for awhile. Well, if the way she ran up the walkway to the modest little cottage didn't tip her off… or the way that Edie held onto her shoulder blade part of the way… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, it's a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>No Shit City, population Annette </span>
  </em>
  <span>at that point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie launches the suitcase towards the couch with a shriek and cackle, then Edie holds her against the door they just entered together. The kiss is closed-mouth but, Goddess, it feels so much better than she expected. Maybe because when it first happened, it was all still a surprise she couldn't process and now… Edie means it. She really means to gently hold her face and frankly pin her to the door by her shoulder. When Annie touches her hair, gasps against her lips, holds her so tightly because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>very well may fall apart, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Edie sighs, much more pleasantly than before. She's not shocked, she's relieved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie feels so proud that she made her happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two tear apart for a moment. "Thank you," Edie whispers, breathing shallowly. "I honestly… can't believe… that this… this is happening."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie's absolutely the same. She flew in not knowing a) that Edie would be there, b) that she would prefer Edie's company to Mercie's c) that she would leave the reunion with Edie, d) that she would go on a nighttime picnic and swim with her, and e) that she would realize that she was gay just in time to… well, fall for Edie. Head over heels. It wasn't even a </span>
  <em>
    <span>what if. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The f being, quite fittingly, where she's at right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But right now? No place she'd rather be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie wraps her arms around the small of Annie's back. "I, ah…" She looks at her with </span>
  <em>
    <span>closed, please come back in the morning </span>
  </em>
  <span>eyes for a few seconds before words approach her mouth. It's clear that they were not vetted by her brain. "Goddess, just… this is crazy." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie giggles. "Yeah, the delirium's setting in for me too." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm so glad you're here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Me too, babe. Me too." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They kiss again for what was supposed to be a moment but extends for longer, and Annie realizes that she's in such disbelief that this is happening that she doesn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to let Edie go. She might never want to. Might never be able to. Their eyes creak open at nearly the same, her steel meeting Edie's lilac. They don't separate but Annie feels Edie's tears before she sees them. She doesn't want to pull away before Edie,so she just runs a loving hand through her stern brown locks. Hitting her ponytail, she takes the band from her hair so carefully she's not an active participant in the kiss. She's lucky that Edie follows her lead and takes it slowly while Annie eases it out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually it falls on the floor, letting Edie's hair fall on her shoulders, still slightly wavy from the water. She pulls away to just… see her. See her hair come up to her breasts, her fully-buttoned blue flannel over nothing but a bra, the way she smiles at Annie with tears in her eyes… goddess, she's so frickin' lucky. She's so lucky for this mysterious, charismatic, respectful woman that makes her feel like she </span>
  <em>
    <span>matters. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie sees her face and giggles, drawing a tear from her cheeks. Yep, makes sense that she's crying. "Everything feels so </span>
  <em>
    <span>big,</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Annie explains with a tremulous giggle. "So like </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing </span>
  </em>
  <span>I experienced before." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie has basically every right to clock why that is- probably how her traditional absentmindedness made her forget to make a genuine inquiry into whether or not she's into girls. Instead, she just smiles the sort of crinkly-eyed tearfully joyful smile that Annie can't match.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's good," she breathes. "I feel the same way."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She slowly pins Annie to the wall, waiting for complete consent like Annie wouldn't pin herself to the wall if she could. Edie's breath hitches and she stumbles when she asks "Du-d-do you trust me, Annie, darling?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie shakes more than Edie's voice when she nods. She doesn't have a clue what's gonna happen when they're not even in the bedroom, but she can't imagine it </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>being good with Edie at the helm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie kisses her again, slowly, sensually, tangling them together as her hands wander along Annette's sides, holding her in place. Annie indulges in every moment, swears to remember it, can already anticipate daydreaming about it when she's away. You reserve your dreams only to people important enough for your subconscious to capture them, right? Well, damn, here's hoping. Edie might even already have dreamed ab- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sensation of hands on her hips- her </span>
  <em>
    <span>bare </span>
  </em>
  <span>hips- startles her back to conscious thought  enough for her to see Edie's eyes pointing up at her, the question silent but loud nonetheless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uhm, </span>
  <em>
    <span>here?</span>
  </em>
  <span>" Then, so she doesn't look judgmental, she adds "That's not a problem except I didn't expect it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie isn't far from the hemline of her shirt, but the natural heat of their bodies intertwine, and the feeling of skin on skin is- Goddess, it's everything. It's absolutely what pushes her over the edge to wanting this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even before Edie clarifies "If you would let me, I would love to" Annie nods her head. It's a wonder that Edie finishes her sentence at all, but Annie just kisses Edie's cheek and feels her lover unbutton her pants (though they were so holey that she probably could reach up from one near her thigh, honestly). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She only lowers them enough to see Annie's white panties, clearly not nice enough to show any preparedness for such an event. "They'd at least be purple if I had any idea something like this was happening," she jokes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie also chuckles, though it's more of a silent sniff of laughter and upturned, adoring eyes. Hand on the hem, she breathes "may I, sweet Annie?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie blushes as she nods. "You always know what to say," she says with a shy grin like her heart's not about to break her ribs. Oh, Sothis help her, she can't believe she said </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes </span>
  </em>
  <span>to this because she's already about to burst and topple over. Horny Annette should be banned from making decisi- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hoh!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie's barely touched her, but Annie can't hold in the anticipation that almost wraps around into fear, like waiting for the roller coaster to drop. "Oh my </span>
  <em>
    <span>Goddess! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Give a girl notice!" She plays mad, which is hard to do when you can barely focus on anything but how good it feels. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie looks up at her with the tightest grin hiding some naughty thoughts from the look of it. "Sorry, sorry!" she breathes rather than speaks. "Just nerves." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie nods. "I, ah… I have nerves over a lot of things so I know what to do." She looks Annie in the eye, a rarity in itself. Voice low enough to trip over: "I'd advise placing your hands on the wall or on me. I, ah, can tell you what I'd prefer." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amazing. Not so much as a blush. How does this woman go from… </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> to </span>
  <em>
    <span>this? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Annie pulls her close, arms around her neck, head resting on her shoulder, lips towards her neck. Maybe a little incentive, maybe just the only way she can hold on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," she breathes, feeling the way Edie's fingers ghost against her folds, begging for a word like this. "Okay." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie kisses the top of her head and starts in. Annette gasps when Edelgard actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>touches </span>
  </em>
  <span>her, both with the feeling and with </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh Saints, this is happening, Edelgard is touching me. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Even though her finger just rolls along the surface of her skin, it doesn't feel real. This is absolutely not how she imagined a day in her life to go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then it is absolutely not that simple. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie's finger goes inside her so quickly that it's like ripping off a band aid but the opposite sensation. Annie shouts directly into Edie's ear, feeling another kiss on the top of her head. "Please," she whispers. "Edie, I'm yours." </span>
  <em>
    <span>I could not be more yours if I fucking tried.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie needs no further encouragement to thrust the finger in and out of her in a rhythmic pattern that's- well, it's as comfortable as Annie expects to get. Edie keeps it up like a piston, every pump provoking a rhythmic gasp from her, lungs already ragged, and while part of her loathes having to keep herself upright somehow, it makes everything feel so </span>
  <em>
    <span>intense, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the way her heart hammers against Edie's breast just adds so much to it. "Edie," she breathes, and she can't believe she wants </span>
  <em>
    <span>this. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"Edie, harder." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie nods, kissing the top of her forehead. "Good girl," she all but purrs, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>son of a bitch, where did she learn this shit? </span>
  </em>
  <span>She tightens around Edie's finger, subconsciously wanting to impress her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck, Edie," she breathes. "I love how you feel inside me." She's gonna have to sit down with herself after this and ask where this dirty girl came from.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if </span>
  <em>
    <span>she's </span>
  </em>
  <span>the one getting fingered to the rapture, Edie gasps against Annie's scalp and moves faster inside her. Annie can't ward away this tsunami of feeling with huffs and gasps and even the moans barely feel like enough, though she's surely </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Edie humming pleased next to her. It all builds inside her so suffocating, threatening to choke her or blow her to bits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie reaches a second hand into her panties only this one's from </span>
  <em>
    <span>behind, hello. </span>
  </em>
  <span>As if sensing her apprehension, Edie says "don't worry; I don't plan to take you that way" which immediately puts her above a lot of guys she's dated. Her hand goes lower and past that whole business and replaces the one going inside her. It's not nearly as deep, but that's okay, Annie needs a moment to- </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Fuck!" </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>-scream, apparently, as Edie rubs a finger against her clit. That and the one working her from behind isn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>fair, </span>
  </em>
  <span>is how good it feels. She almost wants to apologize to Edie because there's no way that she'll be that good. "Fuck," she breathes, choking each word out in rhythm to the way she grinds against Edie's hands. "Fuck, please, Edie, please." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Please what?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Make me come, Edie." Hell, it won't even be hard. She could do it by accident.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie kisses the top of her head and goes faster than ever. Yeah, the show's all but over as it takes her maybe ten seconds to send Annie hurtling over the edge, moaning, screaming, and grunting things that aren't quite words. Her pants barely being lowered means that as much as she wants to squeeze and rub against Edie, she's squarely denied. So she wraps her arms around Edie's neck and bucks her hips against hers. Her fingers almost lose Annie but never stray too far, no matter how close her whole messy situation gets, staying where they're needed until Annie goes limp, holding Edie from need rather than passion for the first time that night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," she and/or her ghost breathe against Edie's neck. "Yes, Edie, oh my God." She has not only relinquished muscular control, but probably mental control. She's tired of thinking of all the other times she's been fucked and how they don't measure up when admitting to herself that even </span>
  <em>
    <span>she </span>
  </em>
  <span>can't touch herself that well is much higher praise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When everything calms down enough that she remembers she is alive, a cognitive being, and her name is Annie, she giggles just a little. She faces Edie, who looks back, wide-eyed. "Was- was I good?" she asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm a mess," she admits goofily with a giggle. "Good job, Edie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you," Edie beams. "I admittedly, ah… well, I appreciate it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annette smiles and sort of leans her lips on her neck before frowning. "I'm just sorry because I'm so knocked out so I can't really return the favor yet. I can't even…" Well, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>can </span>
  </em>
  <span>move her muscles, just not well yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie chuckles. "It's okay," she says. "I, ah… take a bit to warm up. I'd rather wait, if you want to know the truth." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie gives her a kind of </span>
  <em>
    <span>okay but you're still sus </span>
  </em>
  <span>kind of look. "I'm gonna hold you to that," she says. "If you change your mind, I'm all yours." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie giggles. "But you still cling to me, my dear Annie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>...that's true. Though maybe she would anyways. "I just, uh… okay, after I get some rest, maybe." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Want me to carry you to bed?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie sighs happily. "I might need you to, lovey. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sothis</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie just smiles, happily holding her as they walk to her room. Like before, she doesn't recognize or remember a detail of the room other than the bed she crashes onto at Edie's urging. She just scrambles vaguely to a laying position, holding Edie's neck as she handles the covers for both of them, giggling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Edie?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie covers them up and touches nose to nose with her. "Yes, dear?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why the hell did it take me so long?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie just hugs her and kisses the side of her head. "Takes us a while to figure out what we want, my darling Annie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh." That sounds right. "You…" She yawns. "You ain't kidding, sugar."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she's fast asleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>Annette's used to waking up a few times in the night when she sleeps so she's not surprised that she does when everything is dark. It's probably two or something but the clock is on Edie's side. Because </span><em><span>she's</span></em> <em><span>in bed with Edie. Holy mother of Goddess Sothis. </span></em></p><p>
  <span>She's still worried that this is a really elaborate unexpected dream that's gonna be a fun time to explain to her therapist. Like this won't already be. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hi, doc, I think I figured a few things out. What things? Uhm, like why I thought I had a low sex drive, why I'm such intense friends with the women in my life, and that well the only time sex hasn't left me feeling a little icky when I wake up is because my dumb ass never tried it with a woman. Uhm, anyway, I'm gay. How's your day? Wait, you said I'm not allowed to-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She hears a gasp next to her, and all of her thoughts flee into the ether. Gods, is Edie having bad dreams? She wants to reach out for her and embrace her but maybe it's nothing. Then Edie gasps again and it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
  <span>enough to sound like she's asleep except the air in it just </span>
  <em>
    <span>feels </span>
  </em>
  <span>a little more intentional and honestly what the hell is going on?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next noise being a grunt that speaks into very low places in Annette's gut answers that question. It's punching Annette right in the hunger to imagine Edie gasping, twisting against her own fingers (thinking of her?) but it also isn't right. Imagine doing all that and then rubbing one out in your bed all sneaky like there are nuns walking around watching.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She isn't sure how not to freak out or embarrass Edie, but she can't think of any way that works quickly enough for her other than a quiet, sweet, </span>
  <em>
    <span>semi-</span>
  </em>
  <span>steamy "hey Edie." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie gasps again, more strangled this time. "It's okay, Edie," Annette whispers in a panic. "It's just me, honey." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, uh… oh, hi, Annie." Edie's hands move up conspicuously from her waist area. "I, ah… didn't expect you to be up." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie yawns and gestures to Edie's waist. "I kinda figured." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flustered, Edie says "I'd like for you to give me a break, if you would!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie giggles, holding her hands up. "Given and unnecessary, hot fingers." This just makes Edie blush more. "I just… well…" Damn it to hell, she absolutely didn't expect this to get sentimental. She's such a lame-o. "I mean, after tonight, Edie, I don't, like… want you to sneak one in while you think I'm sleeping." Her hand reaches Edie's cheek. "I want to be here for you too." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie looks flushed head to toe like she wasn't a couple inches deep tonight. "I, ah, appreciate the thought, but I, well…" She sighs, looking away. "Truth be told, I dislike being touched- sexually, at least- by others until a while after we start our encounters. It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>embarrassing, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but I can't </span>
  <em>
    <span>not, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I suppose." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie takes Edie's shoulder. "You don't gotta be embarrassed, baby. It's okay. I know a few girls who are like that." More than a "straight" girl </span>
  <em>
    <span>should </span>
  </em>
  <span>know, at least. "But I'm still here, and I'm still willing to help. Just tell me what to do, okay baby?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She meets Edie's eyes, the eyes of a guilty woman. "None of that," Annie insists. "I just want you to know that I'm here and I want you to feel a taste of what you give girls like me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blushes still, but her eyes loosen slightly. "I, uhm…" It takes her awhile, but she breathes enough to say something. Lowering her hands to her waist again, she asks in barely more than a mumble "will you take your shirt off, Annie?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie's eyes light up. "Oh, definitely." She isn't sure if she should just do it or give her a show, but she doesn't really know how yet, so her shirt goes over her head until she pulls out of it, chubby freckled tummy and bare noodle arms shown to the world. "Oh, and, uhm…" She manages to pull her sports bra over her head as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie's eyes light up. "They're beautiful." Not long after, Annie hears the telltale noise that she's familiar with of skin against skin. "Goddess," she breathes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I take your top off?" Annette asks eagerly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Strained but still smiling, Edie nods. "So impatient, d-" Something happens and she gasps, fully cut off. It's so musical to Annie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're so hot," Annie whispers near her skin as she disrobes Edie, loose shirt and loose bra easier to remove. She's met with a pair of large, uneven breasts slinking against the mattress, shaking with every vibration Edie shoots through her body. The aforementioned scar breaks the contour of her body, straight across her ribs and through the edge of her right spread. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck, Edie, you're </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>hot." Annie feels heat pool beneath her own legs. "Keeping my hands to myself is so hard right now." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie slows down enough to say "touch my breasts, darling, please." Then she jolts with a whimper, pleading "please, Annie", Annie carelessly pushing her panties off her legs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie doesn't use her hand to touch. She places her lips near the hardened nipple, waiting for a "please" choke from Edie's high register. She figures by Edie's panting that she doesn't have much time, so she places her mouth around the exposed areola, twisting the nipple in her teeth, her tongue brushing against it. To say that Edie reacts is an understatement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck, yes, please," she pleads, slapping even quicker against her own skin. Annette lowers her hand to her own loins, resting on her clit. The noises Edie makes- a whine with a unique signature chime- and the way her eyes close already do so much to ruin her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought I was good at singing," Annie teases, though her voice is so husky that she certainly isn't doing it lightly. "You sing so </span>
  <em>
    <span>divinely</span>
  </em>
  <span>." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Annie," Edie gasps, voice a mew. "Annie, are you…" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>is. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She doesn't expect to come again, but Edie's eyes have been glued to her from the start, following her hand down to her naked clit that Annette frantically rubs. "Couldn't help it," she breathes. "Your music is making a mess of me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Kiss me," Edie begs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Annie does, kissing her in between gasps and moans from either girl. "So beautiful " Annie breathes. "So hot. And such lovely moans. You're going to ruin me." A particularly fierce pang hits Annie when she touches herself, nearly throwing her inside herself. "God, I wish you were in me," she hisses. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>," Edie whimpers. "Annie, love. My Annie…" Those are the last words Annie can understand. Like she's riding rather than touching, she bucks her hips up and down before slamming on her hand, coming strongly enough to cry. Annie slows down to hold her as she shakes, moaning loudly and slovenly, making every syllable hers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Baby," she pants. "Baby, you're so, so, sweet. You're, you're so good to me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annie blushes, hand moving away from her own mound. "Edie, it's been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>night.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And I just…" She keeps her lips near her lover's face. "I'm so happy. I'm seriously happy. This isn't-" She interrupts herself. "This isn't how I </span>
  <em>
    <span>expected </span>
  </em>
  <span>the night to go but you're more trusting than you expect." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edie blushes. "Could be," she yawns, embracing Annie. "Or it could just be you…" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Edie?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's no use. She's either drifting off or doing a damn good job lying. Annie kisses her nose again and decides not to read too much into it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They've already proven that they can communicate well.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. send my love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They're up again an hour later. Edie finally remembers to pull her underwear up, basically granny panties on inspection. "If you're wondering if I even anticipated anything going on tonight," Edie notes with embarrassment. "Uhm, there's your answer." </p><p>Annette playfully slaps her chest. "It's not like I vamped up before I went out tonight." With a shy giggle: "Definitely can't say I expected it to be like…" She gestures to her own nudity. "This." </p><p>Edie chuckles, mouth against her nose. Slight vibrations echo through Annie. "This indeed." She closes her eyes. "I honestly didn't expect to see you there, even, much less to see you take an interest in taking me on whatever adventures you planned." </p><p>"I enjoyed it too," Annie admits. "And I mean it. Even if <em> this </em>never happened, I'd be happy. I'd…" She sighs happily. "I'd remember it for life, Edie." </p><p>"That's…" Edie takes a second to think of the words. "That's quite the statement, Annie." She smiles, gazing at her like she was Sirius itself. "But I… I had a great time as well. I hope you know that." </p><p>Annie grins a little suspiciously. "I think I had trouble telling at first but, like, by the time we hit the water I could tell you were having fun." </p><p>Edie giggles. "I could also tell that you were eyeballing my breasts by the time we got out. I just didn't actually believe it." </p><p>"Well, I wasn't exactly <em> subtle, </em> Edie. Honestly, the fact that you thought I <em> wasn't </em>into you is kinda wack." </p><p>"I mean, <em> yeah, </em>" Edie starts, scratching her neck. "The thing is, you were… someone I had feelings for back in the school days." </p><p>Annie points to herself in shock. She didn't know what Edie thought about her, closed off about her thoughts in the school days. She'd never have guessed that she- the stately, regal Edie- would have crushed on her who, need she remind you, is <em> Annette </em>. </p><p>Edie nods as if to counteract any "what, me?!" statements. Not so easy to shut Annie up, though. "I'm… whoa, I didn't know you remembered me! I'm not that memorable." </p><p>"Liar," Edie hisses, hand in Annie's hair. Once Annie got her walls down, she's incredibly touchy. Annie loves it.</p><p>Pointing at Edie playfully (gleefully): "are you <em> sure </em>you're not just pulling my leg?" </p><p>Edie shakes her head. "You had a very dynamic presence, and my friends in Black Eagles were… few. Freya was the leader, a lot of the class rotated around her. I was often too quiet to stand out… to make friends. I had two and, well, I think I irreversibly added an asterisk to mine with Dorothea so… it was lonely." </p><p>Annie closes her eyes. "Edie, you really <em> were </em>lonely, weren't you?" </p><p>Edie thinks of a response, but she just nods. "I was," she admits. "It's why I never told you. For a while things between Dorothea and I went badly after she found out so… I never told you." With a tightened voice: "You were my only friend. I don't know what I would have done without you."</p><p>"I think I needed a while to realize," Annie admits. "That, and an itty bitty apocalypse I could recenter with." With a smile: "Like to think I'd be flattered though but… yeah, you know, I needed a lot of time" and shitty ex-boyfriends "and I'm sorry about that."</p><p>Edie just smiles. "I'm glad that I waited. It… it isn't easy. I feel like I see things others don't. And I could never tell if you did too but… no matter what, you treated me well."</p><p>"Oh." Annie strokes her arm. Concern in her voice: "I'm glad you thought I was good to you.  Everyone should have been, but I'm glad I could be." </p><p>"You were good to everyone, Annie." Edie kisses her forehead, and Annie coos because it's so sweet she could cry. "I'm just very thankful that you shone some of your light onto me." </p><p>Annie blushes, so much steam in her body that it's like she ate a Five-Alarm Burger. "<em> Stop </em> it," she drawls, smiling as she rolls her eyes. "I don't have <em> light, </em> especially not, like, <em> miracle </em>light." </p><p>Edie rests her fingers on Annie's shoulder. "I know better than anyone what I saw," she says, breath hot in the limited distance between them. "And believe me, it was light." </p><p> </p><p>Later that night, when Edie is asleep (she sleeps like a rock), she gets a text from Mercie.</p><p>Oh <em> shit. Mercie!  </em></p><p>She throws the app open with a gasp. </p><p>
  <em> u never came back?? I was busy with the blue lions (ingrid is so reckless, the dear!) so im sorry im texting now  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> but u never came back? 😢  </em>
</p><p>Damn. Every time Mercie(less) sends a text like that, she breaks Annie's heart a little. It's her fault for not saying anything. </p><p>
  <em> Okay so I totally didn't mean to I'm not lying. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Other things came up. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> They're </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A lot </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I'll tell you tomorrow but I am safe and so so sorry!  </em>
</p><p>That last one was half-true. The story she tells will end at the swim. </p><p>Mercie responds while Annie is still on the messaging app.</p><p>
  <em> Oh I'm so glad you're safe! Ingrid was worried about you. 🤗 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Yea no it's ok I just got super carried away seeing a friend </em>
</p><p>Well, a little more than carried away. Honestly, seeing Edie's body, no question that she <em> could </em>carry Annie away. </p><p>
  <em> I'm so glad! It's important to think of them! You didn't miss much here but a fiascooooo 🤪🙄 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Mb tomorrow u can do coffee with us??? </em>
</p><p>Annie looks over at Edie. She has her face caked into the pillow like she's eating it. Absolute zero.</p><p>
  <em> Can you wait til Monday? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A little busy today. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Suure we can! 😁 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Thx mercieeeee 🥰 </em>
</p><p>Annette forgot what she was upset about, but she feels bad about it. Even if she didn't have the <em> craziest </em>hookup with someone Mercie doesn't truly know, she still… well, only reacted that way because of a youthful crush she never knew she had.</p><p>She and Ingrid will be great for each other. Like Ashe and Dedue. Bells and Shamir. Her and Edie.</p><p>
  <em> Sorry I left early again. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I was overwhelmed. </em>
</p><p>That's more the truth of it, really.</p><p>
  <em> Honey it's ok! Well make up for it monday. just us three. No crazies 🤪 </em>
</p><p>
  <em> As far as I'm concerned ing is a crazy lmaoooo </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Heehee </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I wont tell her you said that. </em>
</p><p>Edie flops an arm over her. Slurring her speech out of exhaustion: "Bayyy, why you up? You should, you should…" </p><p>"I will, sweetie. I'm just talking to a friend very quickly."</p><p>
  <em> Good!  </em>
</p><p>After that, she puts the phone down. "See? Good." </p><p>"Thash nice." Edie takes Annie into her arms and kisses her cheek. "You're a really nish girl you know? No wonder yagasho many friends."</p><p>Edie's so cute when she's sleepy. She's got the makings of an affectionate drunk. More than usual, at least.</p><p>"Edie, you're really sweet." She says in response. "I'll go ahead and try and sleep, okay?"</p><p>"Do I hafta let you go, baby?" </p><p>Annie giggles, just a little. She knew from the start that Edie was unique, and she was right. </p><p>"Never, lovey." </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>When they wake up in the morning, they're under the blanket, still nude. Annie's suitcase is in the living room with her clothes and cleanliness items in it. Both girls are far away in the bedroom of the tiny house that, now that Annie isn't booby-blinded, she can tell has a couple of art pieces in it and a picture of an Edie who looks like she's in a time before she met Annette. One of the other paintings is of the Emperor that Edie is named after, a distant ancestor. She wears a large, intimidating coat and golden rams' horns. Her hair is white and looks oddly natural. She looks like a giant, at least six feet, which the two of them decidedly <em> aren't. </em>Otherwise, though… yeah, in just the facial structure they look similar. Both of them look like nobility; Edie's just waiting for her kingdom.</p><p>"You really <em> do </em>have crazy cool ancestors," she tells Edie. She's already lost track of all the complexities of her taking control of Fodlan. It sounds painful and, honestly, paints her in a very imperfect light, but whatever, she's not a historian. Emperor Edelgard still rocks her socks off. </p><p>"I <em> am </em>proud of her," Edie admits, lips taut in a prideful smirk. "It's hard to imagine what it all would have looked like had she stayed in power, but she left the prime ministry to a comrade she trusted- I believe he's from the same family Freya is- and wasn't heard from again." </p><p>"Just walked off the stage." She mimes an explosion with her hands. "Ka-boom, into the ether." </p><p>Edie nods. "It's fascinating, but makes it hard to study her. Simply put, I fear that I am violating her trust." </p><p>A series of question marks may as well have risen around her head. "Her… eight hundred year old trust?" </p><p>"It does sound silly," she admits, scratching the back of her head. "I just feel like… she's my ancestor, I suppose. Especially sharing her name, I feel like," she waves her hands around her head. "Like I'm her scion. Like, maybe I'm a little responsible for her." </p><p>Annie beams. She loves that so much that she can't help but take the lovely Edelgard Hresvelg V's delicate hands. "Honestly, that's why it's up to you to make sure she's remembered correctly. So, like… don't feel bad." </p><p>Edie looks at their hands. Out of nowhere: "She had scars on her hands. That's why she wore white gloves. Actually, all over her body, really. Like my scar from the car accident, but everywhere. She never said why… like she couldn't bring herself to." </p><p>"Wow," Annie muses. "I mean, I'm no historian but I definitely, like… always saw depictions of her without scars." </p><p>"Probably because renaissance paintings popularized the idea of her without them." Annie's invested as it gets, eyes wide and eager. Edie blushes and says "Ah, my family has a set of letters she once wrote. Kept in immaculate condition. That's why people don't know why she got those scars." </p><p>"That's <em> fascinating, </em>" Annette emphasizes. "You have a piece of her true history. Like, a secret history." </p><p>"I do." Her smile turns into a frown. "I doubt I could share it, though. My family tries to keep it secret. They say that it's only theirs, and even then, it's hardly mine." </p><p>Annie looks dejected on her behalf. It doesn't sound like her family values her. It's bitter irony; the one named after the last Hresvelg ruler, the most famous and revered, the least respected of her family. </p><p>"Well," she drawls, drawing Edie's eyes. "If anyone asks, I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything about how I didn't even know any of this despite taking history, and I <em> definitely </em> didn't say that she's <em> your </em>descendant and you have every right to preserve and correct her story, especially the parts that only you and your family of rich snobs know." She thinks. "Which is really rude, so I'm glad I didn't say it."</p><p>She doesn't notice Edie's secret tittering until she full-on belly laughs, a gloriously powerful sound. God, this girl. This <em> girl. </em> "My, my. If you <em> had </em>said that, Annie, then you would be a bad influence." </p><p>Annie smiles. "I live to please." </p><p>Edie touches her shoulder with an unbearably vulnerable smile. "If I can tell you something that will catch your interest?" Annie nods enthusiastically. "There's a general she fought with in the Unification war that excelled in anima magic. And what's interesting about her is that Edelgard the First wrote about her precisely thrice- once when she joined the Eagles, once during the war, and once when she was preparing to abdicate. She wrote to her once as well, also by the end of her reign. The two women… seemed romantically involved, if secretive about it." </p><p>Annie is just getting hit with waves and waves of pleasant shocks. "She was a queer Emperor? The emperor to end them all… like, <em> a secret girlfriend </em> ?!" Wowwee, is history <em> awesome.  </em></p><p>Edie smiles, looking down with a blush. "The family seems to believe they did, but… they're not very keen on that information." </p><p>Annie rolls her eyes. "Of <em> course </em>they weren't. Frick." Then her eyes widen. That means… "Oh, Goddess, babe. I'm sorry, honey, for real."</p><p>Edie smiles sadly. "What they don't know won't hurt them." She looks back up at her, and in her eyes Annie sees that she's a part of Edelgard V's story as well. </p><p>Golly. </p><p>"What they <em> do </em>know, on the other hand…"</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>"Edie?" </p><p>The two women are on the couch of Edie's house, dressed in their pajamas. This is Annie's first time seeing the place since she was, well, otherwise occupied. It's quaintly decorated but definitely needs more personality than "a rich family brags about having ancestors who did shit" because the only real personality comes from scattered paintings. </p><p>Edie nurses a cup of coffee. "Yes?" she says before a sip.</p><p>"I'm gonna see you again, right?" </p><p>
  <em>  </em>
</p><p>Edie closes her eyes. She shakes a little too, like she was trying to ready herself for this question but failed. Annie's heart sinks to the bottom of her stomach. </p><p>"I want to," she chokes out before tears start welling in her eyes. "I want to very much, it's just…" </p><p>Annie's heart races a mile a minute. Or a speed more inhuman than that. "Yes?"</p><p>
  
</p><p>Edie wears a look on her face two steps away from tears, worrying Annie even further. "Edie, please," she begs harder than she begged for her touch. "Edie, I need to know." </p><p>That's the moment Edie's eyes narrow. Gone are the tears threatening to leap from her eyes and cut her apart. Instead, her fist clenches around the blue coffee mug and her smile is devilish. </p><p>Annie's never been super religious nor has her family forcibly exposed to it, so as far as she's concerned, that's a good thing. </p><p>
  
</p><p>"I will not lie; it will be difficult," she starts. "Yet… I think again of my ancestry. The Emperor secretly eloped with the woman that she loved, after all… it would be in-character for a Hresvelg woman." </p><p>Annie puts her hands up. "Look, don't put yourself in danger on my behalf. I don't want to be the reason you get hurt." That's to say nothing of the mention of eloping, like, that sounds both epic and terrifying. </p><p>"I believe the only way you could hurt me is if you refused me," Edie mutters "just because you think it would protect me. I do not fear my family more than I care about you." </p><p>
  
</p><p>Annie can't refuse such a show of power, especially from Edie, who didn't show any power when they met. "If that's the decision you want to make…" She takes Edie's hand as she feels something rise in her throat. "Aw, hell, I can't hide it. I'm seriously touched." </p><p>Edie seems a little teary, and Annette can't believe <em> she </em> isn't until she feels a teardrop hit her lip and <em> yep, yep, there it is. </em>"Even if it ends badly?" </p><p>"Never know if you don't try, right? Besides, I just…" Annie takes her face in her hands. Edie's really tearful now. "I want to be by your side. And I'll probably want that for a long time." </p><p>
  
</p><p>Then she thinks. "Is that weird to say?" </p><p>Edie shakes her head, tears flying everywhere. "I mean, I know I love it. I…" She doesn't have words, and Annette kindly wipes her tears off of her cheek. "This is amazing." </p><p>"<em> You're </em>amazing, Edelgard Hresvelg." </p><p>Judging by the way Edie's breath catches, how gently she holds her hand, the way Edie leans her face onto hers and asks "Do you mean that?" she must not hear that nearly enough.</p><p>Well, she thinks it, so she'll say it a lot and go from there. </p><p>And so she does.</p><p>She starts with a nod and a smile, the only way she knows how.</p><p>
  
</p><p>"Oh, the most interesting part of the romance between Edelgard and this other woman?" </p><p>Annette meets her eyes, so close they are to her own. "You gotta tell me, Edie." </p><p>Edie toys with a few strands of orange hair and smiles, like she was waiting for this.</p><p>"You'll never believe what her name was."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow, and I mean wow. Not only has this been a phenomenal way to keep my head on straight during a transitional period, this has been a project I'm very proud of. I really think I'll tackle the Secret History idea again in a long rewrite of this, but don't hold me to it. Regardless, I love this canon and this rarepair is mine. Deadass I feel responsible for it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>